Dragon Ranma
by Tamphis
Summary: Ranma gets a new father who teches him what the true menaing of Honor and Chivalry are. Expect flash-backs!  Pairings are uncertin as of this moment.
1. Prologue

Dragon Ranma

Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, nor do I own Dungeons and Dragons. Both are the rightful property of their respective owners, and I am "creatively acquiring" them for the purposes of this story. Any attempts to gain any monetary compensation for this will result in drastic punishments including, but not limited to, horrible acts of perversion involving chickens, rubber gloves, and a very, VERY, depraved badger. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Ranma Saotome was six years old, and had been on the road with his father for nearing two years. He had recently left his best friend Ukyo, though he still wasn't sure why he was chasing after them. Come to think of it, he still wasn't sure why they had Uc-chan's Okonomiyaki cart…

Ah, well, his Papa said it was okay, and Papa was never wrong.

It was not long after wards that Genma had left Ranma with some local monks to learn more Kanji and, so he said, to gather some "special equipment" for a new sort of training. Ranma was beside himself with excitement. New training meant new techniques, and new techniques meant he was closer to being a master martial artist and getting to go home!

Though he still wasn't sure where home was…

Or where his mother was, for that matter…

It took a week for Genma to come to retrieve Ranma and begin the new training.

"Ranma, today we begin training you in the Neko-Ken."

"What's that, Papa?"

"Well, Ranma," Genma began, "it's an unbeatable technique, guaranteed to make you the greatest martiaol artist in the world!"

"Really, Papa? It's that powerful?" Ranam asked, his eyes shining with childish enthusiasm.

In spite of himself, Genma was proud of him. Ranma had learned all the basic techniques quickly and only needed time to refine them. His learning curve for any and all things martial was astounding, and little Ranma only needed to be shown a move once or twice before he could execute it correctly. Sure, being that he was only six the techniques needed a lot of polish, but what do you want? He's SIX for crying out loud!

Shaking off his momentary bout of reverie, Genma proceeded to tie fish sticks to Ranma and explain to him what was going to happen.

"Ranma, when I open the door to that pit, you are going to jump into it. The cats there will teach you the Neko-Ken. Don't be afraid, they might hurt you a little, but as I always say;"

"The path of martial arts is fraught with peril, right Papa?"

Genma laughed a little bit. "That's right, son. Now, get to it."

Genma opened the lid to the pit, and the sounds of angry cats could be heard coming out of it. Ranma gulped nervously and looked to his father for reassurance. Genma's stern eyes told Ranma everything, there would be no room for failure here, and it was either learn the technique, or be punished.

Ranma closed his eyes and jumped in.

Glalihern was an older silver dragon who lived in a castle made of clouds. He was strong, wise beyond his years, and incredibly lonely.

AND BORED!

He had lived in his little castle, hidden from view by several enchantments, for almost 2,225 years, and he could feel that the Twilight1 was coming closer. Such thoughts didn't truly bother him, he had lived a long, long time and death was a natural part of life. However, he regretted that the last time he had even seen another dragon, of any sort, was almost a thousand years ago when that nasty red one was mucking about in England. He couldn't even recall the last time he'd seen another Silver, or a female.

Indeed, his main regret was that he doubted he live to see any offspring of his own, and that all his accumulated knowledge would die with him. That was when his scrying pool showed him a most curious sight. A small human child was running on all fours and acting like a wild animal. That alone wouldn't have caught his attention, save that there was an adult human running after the child.

Curiosity could be a mean mother, and it often makes us do things we normally wouldn't. Like get involved with a madman and his obviously deranged offspring.

However, Glalihern was intrigued by what exactly was going on, and scryed a little closer.

"Ranma! Get back here and finish learning the Neko-Ken!" the older one shouted.

[Neko-Ken? Where have I heard that before…]

It took a moment of concentration to dredge up the relevant memory, but once he did, Glalihern was shocked.

[This human would do **that**? And to his own offspring, no less?]

That was when Glalihern decided to act.

A brief teleportation spell and both of them were in front of him.

Genma, not looking to where he was going, plowed headlong into a wall of the castle and fell neatly on his butt, knocked out cold.

Neko-Ranma, however, was a sight more nimble and managed to skid into a turn before that and stopped inches away from the very, very, VERY big reptile lounging in front of him.

Neko-Ranma wasn't scared, however. Oh, no.

He was flat-out TERRIFIED!

Glalihern was equally amused, intrigued, furious, and disgusted. Here was a prime example of the best humanity had to offer, and it was being wasted by its no-account parent. He would put a stop to this, be sure of it!

Genma Saotme was, at his heart, a coward. No, that doesn't quite sum it up… He was a chicken-hearted, spineless, lily-livered, gutless, craven, mewling fiegling that would sell his own child out for a free ride. That trait came straight to the front when Glalihern focused an eye on him.

"Human!" he began, "I have seen your treatment of this child and it not only sickens me, it saddens me! You will cease this nonsense you call training at once! Offspring are to be cherished, not cast aside! Be warned, Genma Saotome, I am watching you very, very closely!"

Genma, in the midst of his panicked groveling, didn't hear what the dragon had said, and began babbling nonsense.

"Please, oh great Kami! I am just a humble martial artist, training my son! We mean nobody any harm! Please, spare my life! I beg you, O Great Spirit! Take the boy, he has filed to learn anything and cannot possibly harm you or anyone else! Please, take him and let me go, that I might appease your great wrath!"

This, admittedly, took Glalihern by surprise. This human was offering up its son? As a bargaining chip? Glalihern felt his rage beginning to rise. It was only with a huge effort that he didn't reduce Genma to an interesting ice sculpture right then and there. Instead, Glalihern turned his attention to the boy. In spite of the altitude and cold, the child was looking around curiously, still quite out of his mind. Using a few tricks learned from his cousin Ameryi, Glalihern psionicly probed Ranma's mind. At first, there was only the cat, but deeper past that was the boy, and the purity and strength of his psyche was astounding. This boy, Glalihern learned, would give his all to fulfill any oath, would act in what he felt was in the best interest of everyone, ad would smite any who would act without regard to innocents around them. This boy would be kind to friends, merciful to foes, and would destroy only those who gave him no choice.

[A paladin! In this day and age, a true paladin! Amazing! I must not let this human corrupt the child, I must take him and show him the ways of the paladin!]

"Your offer intrigues me, human. Give me a moment to think on it."

Genma sagged in relief, he would do exactly as he said, and steal Ranma back once the Kami wasn't looking. Just like always.

Glalihern, however, was no fool, and knew exactly what Genma was up to.

"Done. The child, in exchange for your life. Begone, Human, and don't think to look for him after this. He is no longer your concern."

With a semi-councious wave, Glalihern teleported Genma directly into the pit Ranma had just escaped from. Genma barely made it out of there alive.

Ranma awoke some time later to two sensations, one being a bitter, bone-chilling cold, the other being an intense hunger.

He looked around and found that he was in a castle, of all places, and it must have really been high up in the mountains for it to be this cold!

An amused chuckle startled him out of his amazement.

"Mountains? Not quite, child. More like clouds."

Ranma turned his head and saw the biggest lizard he had ever seen, ever! It was huge and colored like the 500 yen piece his daddy let him see once. It had big wings, a long tail, and little horns on its really, really big head!

Glalihern was amused at the child's awestruck expression.

"Ranma," he began, "My name is Glalihern, and I'll be taking over your training. I won't take it easy on you, and I expect you to do everything I say. Understand?"

Ranma nodded, this was nothing new, it had happened several times before with his daddy.

"Now, I'll give you a place to sleep and food to eat, and some free time every day to play during. I'll even help you make a friend when you're ready, okay?"

Ranma began bouncing with excitement. A real friend! He hadn't had one since Uc-chan!

"Yes! Yes, please, Mr. Glalihern! I'd like that a lot!"

Glalihern laughed, in spite of himself.

"Alright, little one. First, let's get you some food and warm clothing, okay?"

And with that, Ranma began his training with Glalihern, the Silver Dragon.

Two years had passed, and Ranma was learing Japanese, English, and Draconic. He learned mathematics, history(from a dragons point of view), and astrology. He was even learning the basics of magic.

On his eighth birthday, Glalihern decided he was ready to cast his first spell.

"Now, little one, as I promised it's time for you to make a friend. This friend will always be with you, and will never leave you. This friend will help you with your magic, and help you when you need someone to talk to. Are you ready?"

"Yes, master. Honestly, I was beginning to feel like you had forgotten that promise…"

"Ranma," Ranma looked up at the dragon and saw a very serious expression on its face. "A dragon never forgets a promise. It may take time for us to fulfill it, but we never forget one once it's made. Do you understand?"

Ranma nodded, it was one of the things he admired and tried to emulate about his wise and enigmatic teacher.

"Good, now take that scroll from the table and follow it's directions, to the letter."

Ranma nodded and began doing so.

Once the work was finished, Ranma stood within a magic circle and began reading the scroll out loud. He finished with a cry of "Familiar, Summon!" and waited.

He didn't have to wait long, as no sooner had the echo died than a long, silvery shape was seen winging through the air twords him at an incredible pace.

"MASTER!" it cried, in a high-pitched, feminine voice.

Ranma laughed with delight, his first friend in years was Myscale, the cloud serpent.

Four more years passed, and Ranma became more proficient at his studies. He could cast several mid-level spells and speak with no accent in every language he knew. He was a little upset that he hadn't learned anything new martially, but Glalihern told him once that a strong body needed a strong mind to guide it, and a stronger heart to keep it true.

So, Ranma didn't mind too much.

It was on his twelfth birthday that Glalihern called Ranma into his private lab.

"Ranma," he began, "I want to offer you something. But before that I want you to know something. For six years I have cared for you, and I have come to see you as my own hatchling." High honors for a dragon, "What I want to offer you is a potion that will make you my child in body as well as spirit. BUT! Mark this well, young one; this is your choice and yours alone. I will love and care for you no matter what you decide."

Ranma was floored with surprise. Be Master Glalihern's son in body and spirit? What did that mean?

"What does that mean, master?"

"Well, for starters, it means that you can't call me master anymore, you're supposed to call me father!" he said with a mock-growl. "Beyond that, it means that you'll become a half-dragon, you'll have a portion of my powers and strengths, but all your own knowledge and abilities. You will be as if you had been born of myself and your mother, rather than that pathetic excuse for a gene-donor."

Ranma was a little uncomfortable with being reminded of the man who helped produce him. Glalihern had shown him what Genma was up to through his scrying pool. Needless to say, Ranma was less that pleased about it, especially after being taught right and wrong.

"Ranma, please think about this carefully. I can't guarantee what will happen to you, but I know you'll overcome it. I have absolute faith in you, my son."

That clinched it, Ranma was going to take that potion, no matter what.

"Ranma, are you sure?" Myscale asked, "It might hurt a lot! And goodness only knows what will happen afterwards! He said so himself!"

"I know, Myscale. But I'm going to. I'd rather be Glalihern's son than Genma's any day."

With that, Ranma popped the cork and drank the potion.

The pain was incredible. His entire body was being re-written and rebuilt. Dragon blood replace his human blood and scales began forming along his arms and legs. His normally black hair turned pure silver and his pupils became elliptical. Fangs replaced some of his teeth and small horns grew from the back of his head. Most stunning of all, wings sprouted from his back and flared out around him. All in all, when the changes were done, Ranma looked like an agent of the heavens sent to wreak havoc on the unworthy.

"Welcome to the family, my son." Was all Glalihern had to say.

Six more years passed, and Ranma filled out to the point where he was quite the looker. Glalihern taught Ranma how to use the long sword and shield, how to ride a horse, a gryphon, and most importantly, a dragon. Ranma learned how to fight from midair, mounted on the ground, and mounted in flight. Ranma learned chivalry and how chivalry might not apply in certain circumstances, and what to do when that happened. He learned to dance, to sing, and to play an instrument.

He also learned that his emotions were not the enemy, and that understanding them was more important than controlling them. Controlling his reactions to them, that was the important thing!

Letting rage blind you, or desire distract you was a sure path to destruction, and Ranma wasn't having any of that. Glalihern allowed Ranma free run of the library, and happily taught Ranma anything he wanted to learn, whether mystical or mundane. He also taught Ranma how to use the powers he had inherited, including how to change his shape and outer appearance. Blending in, he had said, was almost as important as being able to take charge. Ranma hadn't quite understood what he meant, not until he was shown what some did to those who were different.

On Ranma's 18th birthday Glalihern took Ranma aside and gave him three gifts. One was a pendant that would allow him to instantly teleport back to the castle whenever he desired. Another was a longsword made of holy light. Ranma wasn't sure how that worked until Glalihern explained exactly what he meant. The holy and radiant energies were magically channeled into a metallic form and then forged into a sword. That made a lot more sense to Ranma than a sword made of light. Finally, Glalihern gave Ranma a map of the planes and where the portals to the various other dimensions were located.

Ranma accepted all three of the gifts and hugged his father around his huge and scaly neck.

"Ranma." Glalihern's serious tone immediately caught Ranma's attention.

"I need to tell you something. For twelve years I have raised you, my son, but now it is time for you to leave the lair and make your own way in the world. You are always welcome here, our home, my son. BUT! You also need to go and make your own home."

Ranma was near to tears, he loved Glaliehrn dearly and didn't want to leave, but understood that he had to make his way in the world. It was, after all, only natural.

"Okay, Dad. I'm not happy about it, but I understand what you mean. I'll go and seek my fortune in the world,"

"That's my boy." Glalihern said with a soft smile. "Maybe you'll meet a nice female and bring her home to your old Dad, hmm?" he said with a smirk.

"DAAAAAAAD!" Ranma cried out with emberresment.

Myscale was laughing her tail off behind him

"Oh, get off it, Myscale." Ranma grumbled.

End of Prologue.

1 Dragon's Twilight is an event in the life cycle of adult dragons where mortality approaches them, and they must make preperations for their death. Which is never far behind, it normally takes less than 500 years.


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival, Introductions, Deals

Dragon Ranma

Chapter 1; Arrival, Introductions, and Deals.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, nor do I own Dungeons and Dragons. Both are the rightful property of their respective owners, and I am "creatively acquiring" them for the purposes of this story. Any attempts to gain any monetary compensation for this will result in drastic punishments including, but not limited to, horrible acts of perversion involving chickens, rubber gloves, and a very, VERY, depraved badger. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Author's Note:

Wow! That many reviews in this short a time? I am humbled, and thankful for your support. Two brief notes, however:

Ranma is not over-powered too early. Ranma is a paladin, and as such, will be facing very powerful opponents much sooner than one might think. Additionally, the chaos engines have had two additional years to work their magic, who knows what's floating around the prefecture now? ^^

I had recently changed the e-mail linked to this account, so I probably missed some reviews. If you wouldn't mind re-submitting them, I'd appreciate it.

And now, we continue.

Kasumi Tendo, age twenty, was not a very happy woman. True, she put on the happy face; and true, she acted like everything was all hunky-dory in her own little world, but that's all it was; an act. The truth of the matter is that she was worried and afraid for her family. Twelve years ago Mr. Saotome had arrived at her doorstep, suckered her father into letting him stay, and then proceeded to systematically destroy the small amount of savings that Nabiki, her sister, and herself and managed to scrape up. Things became worse three years ago when Grandfather Happosai arrived and began his reign of terror. The Tendo family was very, very close to going bankrupt, and they needed to take drastic measures.

Luckily, help had arrived one fine spring day two years ago. It arrived in the form of Mrs. Saotome, who observed the state of things before taking her husband home and forcing him to get a job at sword point. The money, she told him was being split three ways. One part, the majority, was going to household expenses. Another part was a small amount of allowance for him, and the third part was to pay the Tendo family back for all his years of mooching. Genma, of course, wailed to the heavens about it, but went along with his wife's decree.

The omnipresent katana had nothing to do with it, of course.

The relief brought about by Genma leaving did help the finances, but they were still losing money faster than they were bringing it in. Thus, Kasumi's current predicament, they had enough money for rice, some vegetables, and vinegar to make pickles with(1), but that was the limit of it. She really didn't know what they would do tomorrow, or the day after that. So, Kasumi put on the happy, vapid face to keep her family cheerful and fretted her hair out on the inside.

Chance is a funny thing; it's a combination of situation, location, luck, and happenstance. For instance, if it is raining, and you are an inch too close to the street when a bus goes by, you are soaked. BUT! If you are, say, an inch to the left, then you fine. Chance, see?

Anyway, chance had decreed that Kasumi Tendo would walk right into the back of Ranma Saotome at the exact moment he was trying to haggle the price of two large tunas down. Chance also decreed that it would make Ranma actually pay less than he intended, because he was now actively looming over the fishmonger. Chance also decreed that Kasumi would fall on her shapely posterior with a small cry due to said bumping and looming. Here, Chance let things take its course, got some popcorn and Dr. Pepper, and settled back to enjoy the show.

"Aah!" Kasumi cried as she fell.

Around whirled our gallant knight, and caught her in a classic "swooning maiden" pose(2).

Deeply, did they look into each other's eyes, right before the fishmonger asked to get paid.

Blushing an odd grey tone, Ranma shelled out the required amount after helping Kasumi to her feet.

"Are you alright, Miss?" he asked. "I'm sorry if I hurt you…"

Kasumi shook her head, "No, I'm alright, thank you. I'm sorry for running into you, though. I'm not usually that careless." She looked at Ranma, drinking in his appearance. Long silver hair, steel-blue eyes, chiseled features, well muscled, and TALL. She was instantly smitten. Kasumi could feel the heat rising in her cheeks and turned a little so the blush wouldn't show as badly.

Ranma smiled, "It's alright, I wasn't paying attention either. Allow me to introduce myself," he said with a deep, western, bow, "I am Ranma Saotome, and it is a pleasure to meet you, miss…?"

Kasumi smiled and gave a grand curtsey, "Kasumi Tendo, good sir." she responded with a giggle.

"Well, then, Miss Tendo, please allow me the pleasure of accompanying you on your days errands." Ranma's smile was infectious, and Kasumi couldn't help but smile along with him, her earlier worries forgotten.

As they walked and chatted, Ranma noticed several things about his new companion.

First, she wasn't buying very much, and what she was buying didn't cost much. Also, her clothing, though in excellent repair, was showing signs of becoming rather threadbare along the seams. Additionally, her shoes seemed to running rather thin at the soles. This information lead Ranma to believe that her family; or perhaps she, herself, was undergoing financial troubles. Ranma also noticed that even though she was laughing and smiling, her eyes seemed troubled. Ranma took a bit of initiative and decided to breach a topic that he was having some trouble with.

"So, Miss Kasumi," he began.

"Please, just Kasumi." She said with a smile.

"Alright, then, Kasumi it shall be. Would you happen to know of somewhere I can stay for the night? I'm new to this area and I haven't quite decided to live here yet. "Although," he said with a saucy wink, "If all the ladies here are as charming as you, I might stay."

In spite of herself, Kasumi blushed again. "Well, I don't know about somewhere to stay, but I can at least invite you over to my home for dinner tonight. Though, we may not have very much to offer." Her smile fell a little with that statement, and Ranma decided that so lovely a woman shouldn't have such a forlorn expression.

"Well," he said, "campfire cooking isn't as good as I wish it was, and fish tend to spoil rather quickly. So, I propose that I'll share my purchases today with you and your family, in exchange for a home-cooked meal. Agreed?"

Kasumi was understandably shocked. This total stranger had just agreed to something she hadn't hoped for in quite a while, just like that! He had already purchased several fish, rice, vegetables, and an assortment of spices, and was willing to share it with her, just so she could cook for him.

Kasumi, dear reader, was in domestic bliss.

"Of course! Please, I would be delighted for you to enjoy a meal with us! Is there more that you need to purchase?"

Ranma thought for a moment and then smiled.

"Actually, there is. But I desperately need you, specifically, for it. So, if you could point me to a clothing store or tailor, I would be ever so grateful."

Kasumi was a little confused, but did as he had asked.

Half an hour, three brand-new outfits, two new (and very fancy) dresses, and a new pair of shoes later, a very confused, giddy, and astounded Kasumi was lead out of the store on Ranma's arm, him carrying the days purchases in his travel pack.

Kasumi looked at him in bewilderment.

"Why did you buy me all those things?" she asked, confusion and apprehension clear on her face.

"Hmm…" Ranma looked her, "Well, I wanted to. I saw your smile drop and decided a beautiful woman shouldn't have a troubled expression. So, I thought maybe some new clothes might help you feel better. Forgive me if I overstepped my boundaries; I only wanted to see you smile again."

The radiant smile she showed him said that all was forgiven, and she held no grudge against him for it.

Ranma, however, knew that that little splurge had dipped into his cash reserves rather deeply, and he needed to get more money quickly. He could always ask his father for a small loan, but didn't really want to. It rather defeats the purpose f going out into the world to seek ones fortune, if one is always running to daddy for money.

Time passed, as it is want to do, and evening began approaching. The couple, for that is what everyone who saw them assumed they were, made their way back to the Tendo household. Kasumi entered first, carefully removing her new shoes(3), and asked Ranma to follow her.

Ranma complied while looking around and getting a feel for the spirit of the house. What he felt saddened him, the home spoke of a great love, an even greater loss, and the hearts of the occupants closing little by little as time progressed. The house spoke of a new hope, as one of it's occupants seemed to be re-opening their heart, ever so slightly. Finally, the house recognized him and welcomed him. Kasumi's voice snapped him out of his reverie.

"Ranma? If you could bring the groceries in here, I'll give you a tour in a moment." Her grey eyes sparkled with mischief.

Slightly embarrassed, Ranma quickly did as she asked and placed all of the groceries in the kitchen. However, he left the clothes in his bag, planning as he was on teasing her a little with them.

She turned and looked Ranma in the eye, and smiled impishly.

"Would you like to see the rest of the house, Ranma? Or would you rather stare into my eyes all evening?"

[Oh, so that's how it's going to be, hmm?] Ranma thought.

"That would be a fine way to spend an evening, to be sure." He said with a roughish grin, "But I think I would rather do it seated before a fire, with you in my arms, and our faces mere inches apart."

Kasumi stopped dead in her tracks and blushed a flaming scarlet that went straight to her hairline.

"T-this way, p-please…" she stammered out.

Kasumi lead Ranma around the compound, showing him her garden, the Dojo, her father and sisters rooms, and finally stopped in front of hers.

"This," she said shyly, "is my room. Ummm… it's not really all that special…"

Ranma was immediately intrigued. If she was that shy about her room… wait…

[Oh, my…] he thought.

"Kasumi, I would like to place your gifts in here, would that be alright?" he asked.

Kasumi hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, opening the door for him. Her room was rather bare, being that there was a bed, a small vanity, and her closet, and nothing else. No pictures on the walls, no momentoes of friends or past loves, just the furniture. Ranma frowned slightly.

[This won't do, I wonder if the rest of the house is like this?]

Ranma opened his bag and reverently laid Kasumi's gifts on her bed and placed her shoes just under the edge of it. He then stood and turned to her, only to find her smiling shyly and playing with her fingers in nervousness. Ranma stood to his full height and asked the wrong question for the location they were in.

"So, Kasumi, are we alone in the house?"

Kasumi got a really odd look on her face and fainted with a small amount of blood coming out of her nose.

Ranma was immediately concerned; women just didn't do that as far as he knew. He picked her up and set her on his knee, holding her wrist to feel the pulse there.

Myscale dropped her invisibility and looked at Kasumi.

"Master," she said, "I think she fainted from having naughty thoughts."

Ranma was surprised. "Really? I didn't think women did that."

Myscale gave him an odd look.

"Yes, master. Yes they do. Rather often, in fact. There's your proof, if you needed it."

Kasumi chose that moment to wake up and looked around. The first thing she saw, and felt, was Ranma holding her in his arms and holding her hand. Faster than you can say 'terminal embarrassment' she was on her feet and across the hall, mumbling about needing to get started on supper.

Ranma, clueless as he is, got up and followed her, not really sure of what was going on.

Myscale just sighed; her brilliant master sure was dense at times.

Ranma followed the path Kasumi took into the kitchen and waited for her to compose herself before softly asking if she needed any help. Kasumi favored him with a brilliant smile and stated that she had everything under control, but if he'd like to sit and chat with her, she'd love the company.

Ranma and Kasumi chatted about random things, music, art, and the like before Ranma decided that he needed to explain a few things to Kasumi.

"Kasumi, I need to tell you a few things before we take this friendship any further."

[Here it comes.] She thought, [He's married, or gay, or out to rob us blind or…](4)

"Kasumi, I'm-"

"I'm home!" a male voice called out. "Kasumi-chan, are you here?"

Kasumi instantly responded. "Yes, father, I'm in the kitchen. Dinner will be ready in a little while, would you like some tea?"

Ranma blinked. That was her father?

[Time to introduce myself, I guess.] "Myscale, would you…?"

"Sure, master, just a moment."

Myscale activated her invisibility and draped herself around Ranma's shoulders, alert for anything.

Ranma got up and walked into the living room where a middle-aged man with long black hair and a moustache was smoking a cigarette and reading the local newspaper.

"Excuse me, sir," Ranma began, "But allow me to introduce myself-"

"Kasumi, who is our guest?" the man (Soun Tendo, if you don't already know) called out.

Kasumi came into the living room, drying her hands on her apron.

"Father," she began, her usual vapid smile in place, "This is Ranma Saotome. I met him today at the marketplace."

"Saotome, did you say?" Soun asked with some surprise. "Any relation to Genma Saotome, by chance?"

Ranma knew immediately that this was going to cause trouble; nobody connected the dots that quick without his old man having done something either to or with them. Ranma had seen enough of Genma's dealings in Glalihern's scrying pool to know that. Ranma took a deep breath and got ready for almost anything.

"Yes, sir, he's my biological father."

The one thing Ranma wasn't prepared for was the man jumping up and dancing around while singing 'O Happy Day'. To be completely honest, it rather shocked him.

The man calmed himself almost immediately and sat back down.

"Pardon my outburst, but I have something rather important to discuss with you and my daughters once the rest get back from school. Oh, where are my manners; I am Soun Tendo, proprietor of the Tendo Training Hall."

Ranma was suitably confused, but agreed anyway. He had been invited for dinner; he may as well stay and find out what was going on.

"So, son, do you practice your father's school of Anything-Goes?" Soun's question brought up several unpleasant memories for Ranma, chief amongst them being the Neko-Ken.

"No, sir, I do not. But there is a very good reason for that. And, I will be more than happy to explain it to you after-"

"We're home!" a female voice cried out.

Ranma was getting a touch annoyed with all the interruptions, but was managing to keep his temper in check. Barely, but somehow managing.

A young girl, approximately the same age as Ranma walked in, followed by another one about the same age. Both were lovely in their own right, but the younger one had a look of suspicious anger once she looked at Ranma.

"Who is he?" she asked.

"Akane!" Kasumi admonished, "This is Ranma Saotome, and he's a guest for dinner! Please be more polite!"

"Saotome?" the unnamed other girl said, "as in Genma and Nodoka Soatome's Son?"

Ranma responded hesitantly, "Yes to Genma, but who is Nodoka? Did he get re-married or something?"

"No, son," Soun began, "Nodoka is you mother."

Ranma was more than a little shocked. His mother was alive? Seriously? And this family knew her? Oh, this complicated things…

"Umm, I don't mean to be rude, but you said we needed to discuss something once your daughters were here? " Ranma said.

"Quite right, son; quite right indeed. Kasumi, is the tea ready?"

"Yes, father, just a moment."

"We'll start once the tea gets here, if you don't mind."

A moment later, Kasumi began bringing the tea tray out, and Ranma got up to help her. Kasumi flashed him a smile in gratitude, and it firmed the resolve in Ranma to make sure that she never put that vapid one back on.

The tea was served, and everyone was seated at the table when Soun set his cup down and cleared his throat.

"Now, before we begin, allow me to introduce my daughters to you. Fist we have Kasumi, she's twenty year old." Kasumi gave him a brilliant smile, one which Ranma returned. Akane glared a bit.

"Next we have Nabiki, she's nineteen and entering college this semester." Nabiki gave him a smirk and said she was happy to make his acquaintance. Ranma smiled and responded with a "likewise". Akane glared a bit more.

"Then we have Akane, she's eighteen years old, graduating high school, and the heiress to the Tendo school of Anything-Goes Martial Arts." Akane got a smug little smile at this and looked at him in a challenging manner. Ranma smiled at her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all. I must say, Mr. Temdo, your daughters are all rare beauties."

All the girls blushed a little at the compliment.

"I'm glad you feel that way, son. Now, the subject we need to discuss is this: Long ago, your father and I served under the yoke of a dreaded martial arts master. Once we had won our freedom from him, we separated the school he taught into two, the Saotome and the Tendo. We also pledged that one day we would unite the schools through the marriage of our children. So, I say to you, pick one of the girls here and she will be your fiancé and eventually your wife."

This particular revelation stunned everyone present.

"I-"Ranma began.

"NO!" Akane screamed. "I will not marry some random pervert off the street! I don't care what you say, daddy, he's probably just like his father, a lazy, free-loading con-man!"

Kasumi was shocked, Soun was furious, and Nabiki was scooting away from her sister than a rabbit on speed.

"Not only that, but he doesn't look anything like Mr. Saotome! I bet he doesn't even practice martial arts, the phony!"

Now Ranma was beginning to get more than a little irritated with this.

"First off, Miss Tendo, you don't know me, so don't make snap judgments. It is incredibly rude. Second, I was about to explain why I don't look anything like Mr. Saotome before you interrupted. Third, no, I do not practice the Martial Arts, I do something else. Now, would you like to hear my explanation, or are you going to continue to question my motives and honor?"

"Akane," Soun began, "apologize and sit down. Now."

"But, Daddy-"

"NOW, young lady!" he barked.

Akane mumbled a half-hearted apology and sat down.

"Okay…" Ranma began,"where to begin? Right. This is how I remember it and my father explained it."

And Ranma began to detail the events of the prologue for the Tendo family. The reactions were a little varied, outright disbelief until Myscale dropped the invisibility. Kasumi found her unbearably cute, Nabiki was curious and Akane hated her at first sight. Guarded disbelief lasted until he showed them the sword, pendant, and map. And then outright denial until he dropped the transformation and spread his wings.

"Well now, that's quite the story. If you didn't have the proof of it right here, I wouldn't believe it, either."

"Master never lies!" Myscale piped up, "Master cannot lie, as it's against his code."

"Code?" Nabiki perked an eyebrow, "What kind of code?"

Ranma looked her dead in the eye and started to explain.

"I am a paladin, Miss Tendo. My code of honor and chivalry includes total honesty, loyalty to allies, mercy to enemies, and swift destruction to those who would betray or harm the innocent. Once bound by an oath, I am sworn to fulfill it or die in the attempt. That is my code, Miss Tendo, I follow it to the letter."

Soun was deep in thought over this. Ranma didn't acknowledge Genma as his father, didn't practice anything goes, and had a code of honor that pretty much guaranteed he'd do what he promised, if they could get him to promise it.

[Hmm… ]

An idea began to form in Soun's mind, and it was actually a good one, for a change.

"Ranma," he began I need to explain something about why I am about to do what I am about to do. We are in dire straits financially, and I need someone to give the dojo, house, and property to as a dowry before we lose them to taxes. Now, if that was the only problem, I could start taking students on again and earn some income that way, but due to my own weakness and my daughters …habits, we can't get anyone to learn from us. However, there is another problem and-"further conversation was interrupted by a cry of "SWEETO!" from outside.

"That would be it now." Soun said.

An aged, shrunken male figure bounded in through the veranda with a large bag of what smelled like females on its back.

"Soun! Who's this?" it asked.

"Master Happosai, that's Genma's son, Ranma. Apparently, he's not dead after all."

Ranma frowned a little at that.

[So, Genma said I was dead, hmm? Wonder where he is now…]

Happosai looked at Ranma, dropped his bag and pulled out his pipe. He then began walking closer to Ranma, "Hmm"-ing all the while.

"Nope, can't be him. Last I knew neither Genma nor Nodoka were dragons."

Ranma gave the diminutive one a brief rundown on what had happened.

"Oh, that explains-WHAT? Soun, you idiot, you let a paladin in the house! Do you have any idea what this means?"

"What, O dread master?"

"HE'S GONNA STOP MY COLLECTION! He'll stop at nothing to keep me from my silky darlings!"

That was when it clicked in Ranma's head. What was in the bag, why the girls looked so nervous, all of it.

"I see." He began. "Mr. Happosai, please return those to their rightful owners."

Happosai started to get upset. "No! Their mine!"

Ranma gave him a long look.

"You wear panties, bras, garter-belts, and stockings?(5)"

Happosai made a sort of 'gerk!' sound and stopped mid step.

"Or, perhaps, you bought them?"

All the Tendos started shaking their heads.

"Then you stole them, and as such they are not your property. Now, please return them."

Myscale hissed loudly at Happosai.

"Master, can I zap him?" she asked.

"No need for that, I'll just go and put these silky darlings back where I got them… heh, heh…"

Happosai nervously left the area with his bag, a trail of used female undergarments following his path.

Ranma sighed.

"Now about this fiancé-thing, I propose-"that did it for Akane, she whipped out with her mallet and tried to smash Ranma out the door. Tried being the operative phrase, as Myscale saw what she was up to and let loose with a mild lightning bolt. Well, mild for her at least. For Akane, it was like grabbing a live wire. Needles to say, she sat down a crispy critter.

"As I was saying, I propose to wait for a while and let me and you daughters get to know each other. We have, after all, just met. Additionally, I do not know anything goes, nor do I care to have anything to do with what Genma has wrought. Is that acceptable to all?"

Kasumi and Nabiki both agreed, while Soun was pondering it. Akane, declined to comment, seeing as she was still a bit too shocked to form any sort of coherent statement at the moment.

"I have one caveat, I would very much prefer it if you would stay here with us while doing so. Also, I would like this process to take less than a year. Date with each other as much as you like, but keep in mind I would like an answer soon. Either yes, or no, and I will accept it either way. Agreed?"

Ranma thought for a moment.

"Agreed"

And just like that, Ranma Saotome, Paladin and son of Glalihern came to live at the Tendo Dojo.

Goddess help the locals.

End Chapter.

(1) A least, I think that's how they do it in japan. I don't really know.

(2) Think the cover of a trashy romance novel. The girl is half-laying across the guys knee, he's holding her up, and she looks like she's either going to kiss him or pass out. Or both.

(3) Three inch heels with closed toes, heel cups, and ankle straps. All done in a matte black. Classy and dead-sexy in one package.

(4) Even Kasumi can jump to conclusions.

(5) Ewwww…. Nasty mental image…


	3. Omake 1

Dragon Ranma Omake:

Disclaimer: Still don't own it!

Demonology, Alignment, and You!

Our scene opens to find a female figure standing at a podium wearing the typical graduat's cap and robes. Only hers are open in the front, and whatever it is she has on underneath is barely managing to keep her "talent" in check. She has long, pointed ears, long amethyst hair, and is wearing glasses. To her right is a large chalkboard with several diagrams, charts, and random doodles scribed upon it.

"Greetings, Class. I am Professor Rilone, and today we will be discussing alignment, demonology, and how they interact."

"Our first lesson is on alignment."

"Alignment," she began, "is a quick way of describing your behavios and moral comapss. It's a good way of letting someone know, vaugely, how you'll act or react in any given situation."

"Imagine, if you will, a really large circle. Now, split it into quarters. Okay, at the top you have 'Good', opposite it is 'Evil' and to the left and right you have 'Law' and 'Chaos' respectively."

The female adjusted her glasses and continued.

"On a brief side-note, 'Law' and 'Order' are the same, but 'Law' will often refer to a code of some sort, not necessarily the law of the land."

"Anyway," she continued," everyone starts firmly in the middle, in what is referred to as 'True Neutral'. 'True Neutral' refers more to ones decisions than any sort of good/evil actions or intent. The man who chooses not to get involved is 'true neutral', so is the woman who helps one side and then the other to keep them both in balance."

"As one commits 'lawful', 'chaotic', 'good' or 'evil' acts, one's alignment changes ever so slightly. So, one could be born 'true neutral' and progress to 'lawful evil' through a criminal organization or 'chaotic good' by becoming a vigilante."

She took a sip of water and cleared her throat before continuing.

"Now, demonology is the study of demons; not only that, it is the practice of summoning them to the mortal plane."

Here the female got a goofy smile on her face and twitched for a moment, and then shook herself before continuing.

"Now, it's not terribly hard to summon a demon, if one knows how, but every time you do that, it counts as if you had just committed an evil action. So -ooooh, right there- so, you could be the nicest guy in the world, but the cosmos would still see you as evil for summoning all those demons. "

Her glasses were now completely fogged up, her face was flushed, and she was sagging backwards a little.

"N-now this relates to a p-paladin –Oh, GODDESS, YEAH!- in that a paladin's aura of g-g-good will instantly alert h-h-him or-r-r-r h-her to a –MmMmMmM!- demonologist in the area, and p-p-p-retty m-much guarantees that t-there w-w-w-will be s-s-some close observation going on."

The woman was now pretty much leaning on the podium just to stay upright and gasping for breath.

"I-I h-hope th-that c-c-c-clears some –MORE! MORE!- things up for you. T-thank you a-and good –GOOD GODDESS! DO THAT AGAIN!"

At this point, the woman had pretty much given up on propriety and was hanging on to the podium for dear life.

With a final, shuddering scream of bliss, she sagged down a touch and gasped for breath, a contented smile on her face.

Soun Tendo popped his head up from under the podium and looked at her with confusion.

"I'm sorry, Rilone-koi, I licked and lapped all aound under there but I couldn't find any elf-honey."

Rilone smiled and said "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll find it next time."

End Omake.


	4. Chapter 2: Andjustments, and meeting Dad

Dragon Ranma

Chapter two: Adjustment, and meeting Dad.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, nor do I own Dungeons and Dragons. Both are the rightful property of their respective owners, and I am "creatively acquiring" them for the purposes of this story. Any attempts to gain any monetary compensation for this will result in drastic punishments including, but not limited to, horrible acts of perversion involving chickens, rubber gloves, and a very, VERY, depraved badger. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Disclaiming addendum: The badger's batteries have run out, so I'm subbing a hyperactive mongoose for this chapter. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Morning came, as mornings do, to the sounds of one Akane Tendo smashing bricks and making loud 'Kiya!' sounds. The occupants of the house were performing their morning routines; Kasumi was making breakfast, Nabiki was resurrecting herself, and Soun was reading the morning newspaper. Ranma, however, was nowhere to be found. This, quite naturally, saddened the besmitten elder Tendo sister as she was hoping that he would be there to keep her company during the day. In spite of herself, a small, wistful sigh escaped her lips.

"Why so glum this morning, Kasumi?" Ranma's voice cut through her melancholy like a hot knife through soft butter. Startled, she whirled around to find him with standing in a pair of sweat pants, and nothing else. He had a playful smile on his lips and what looked like a wooden sword and shield combo in his hands.

"Ranma!" she gasped, "you startled me! I thought you had left!"

The smile vanished and a soft look came over his eyes. "I would never leave you, unless you wanted me to."

Kasumi blushed prettily at that. "Breakfast will be ready soon, will you be joining us?"

The smile came back, and Ranma responded eagerly. "Naturally! I wouldn't miss one of your meals for anything."

Kasumi smiled back, and asked him if he would set the table.

Breakfast went much as one would expect, Akane glared a lot, Nabiki seemed not to care, and Soun made small talk with Ranma. Yes, all was proceeding normally until a loud voice started yelling outside.

"AKANE! Hark, mine lady of raven-tresses, for I have come to whisk you away to our nuptial bliss!"

The whole family groaned.

Ranma looked up curiously.

"What on earth is that? Whatever it is, it needs to stop mangling old English like that; it's hurting my ears…"

Akane sighed… "That would be Tatewaki Kuno, one of the richest and stupidest people here in Nerima. About two or so years ago he made this stupid speech that had every guy in the school thinking he had to beat me up in order to take me on a date."

"It's also part of the reason Akane has trouble with boys her age." Nabiki chimed in.

"Only part?" Ranma asked in confusion, "What's the rest of it?"

Everyone else at the table made a sort of 'dunno' gesture and went back to breakfast.

"O Akane, my fierce tigress, let us venture forth into the days warm embrace! Let us journey out into the wide, wild world with naught but each other and a prayer for good fortune! Let us ELOPE!"

"That guy is beginning to get annoying…" Ranma said.

Akane shook her head and heaved a sigh. Kuno would never learn it seemed. "Pardon me for a moment," she said, "I'll be right back." Hefting a mallet she pulled from seemingly nowhere, she walked out the front door muttering darkly under her breath. Ranma managed to catch the words 'baka' and 'hentai' two or three times, though.

"Akane, my love! Let us away- where didst thou acquire such a monstrous thing? My love, enough games, let us be off and- what are you doing? 'Twould seem that thou dost wish to spar with mine self! Very well, I shall- "

"FORE!"

A loud smacking noise was heard, and then what sounded like someone screaming 'date with thee!' retreating at a rapid pace.

"I swear, Akane," Nabiki said, "One day you are going to give that boy some serious brain damage."

"Honestly, Nabiki," Akane replied, "I think he's already got brain damage. At least he graduated and isn't hounding me at school anymore."

"True, true…" Nabiki said, "Now he's at my school and hounding me twice as bad. Always he wants 'Pictures of his fierce Tigress'. One day, I'm going to have to do something about him, I swear…"

Ranma seemed deep in thought. Did this… buffoon's actions violate his code? So far, he seemed a rather harmless sort of irritant, but the part with the pictures had him worried. Obsessions like that very often turned dangerous, and fools that seemed harmless enough could become deadly with the right pressure.

"Myscale," he whispered, "could you go ask father about this? I'm a little unsure of what to do."

Myscale nodded and took off, flying in a generally north-westerly direction.

"So, son," Soun began, "what are your plans for the day?"

Ranma frowned a bit in thought. "To be honest, Mr. Tendo, I hadn't given it much thought. I suppose I'll look around and get my bearings, maybe visit my father. Maybe, If Kasumi is willing; I'll ask her if she'd like to come along with me. After that, I haven't really got anything in mind."

Nabiki piped up then, "I'd like to meet your father, too, Ranma. Could I come along as well? I'm guessing you're not referring to Mr. Saotome."

Ranma smiled at her. "Indeed not, Miss Nabiki. I mean Glalihern, my true father. Mr. Saotome may have been responsible for my birth, but he is no father of mine." There was an unmistakable air of finality to that statement. One which left Soun pondering what exactly had transpired during that ill-fated training trip.

Akane stood up and thanked Kasumi for the meal, citing that she needed to get to school, or risk being late. She said her farewells, and gave a parting glare to Ranma, warning him not to do anything …improper… while she was gone. Ranma pointedly ignored the look and continued to make small talk with Mr. Tendo.

About thirty minutes passed, and Ranma stood to take his dishes into the kitchen, ignoring Kasumi's protests that she would get them. Upon his return, Ranma gave her a gentle look.

"Kasumi," he began, "You cooked last night and did the dishes. You set up the bath, prepped and cooked breakfast. At the very least, let me get the dishes from this morning. I'm sure that you have things you would rather do, than wait on my scaly backside all day." With those words, he gently, but very insistently ushered her into the living room and sat her in front of the television.

Well, faster than you can say "rerun", she had a cup of tea and a plate of sliced strawberries on the end-table next to her and the remote in her hand. Kasumi, needless to say, was shocked. Nobody, and I mean nobody, in the house had ever, ever, ever done the dishes for her. Let alone forced her to take a day off from cleaning. She wasn't too sure what to do, so she clicked on the TV and was soon engrossed in an animated story of a girl that used magic and her talking ferret side-kick.

Soun was surprised, Nabiki more so; and both of them felt like absolute heels for not thinking to do this earlier. Nabiki walked up to Ranma and took a breath.

"Ranma?" she began, "Can we talk about a… delicate matter?"

This instantly had Ranma's full attention. Delicate matters usually fell into three catagories: emotions, finances, or sex. Ranma's nose told him that with Nabiki, it could be any of them. Drying his hands on a dish towel, he poured two cups of coffee and gestured at the table.

"What is on your mind, Miss Nabiki?"

"First," she said, "just Nabiki is fine. Although, if you play your cards right, Biki-chan could work too." she added with a saucy wink. "But that's not what I need to talk to you about. The brass tacks are, we, as a family and a business, are broke. As much as I –I mean we- want you to stay, we can't afford another mouth to feed. So, we need to work out an arrangement for rent, or something. What do you say?"

Ranma regarded her for a moment before standing up. "Wait here a moment, please." he said. Ranma walked up to his room and came down a moment later with a small pouch. Ranma sat down at the table again and looked directly at Nabiki.

"This is from my own, private, horde. I'll need some help exchanging this into paper money, but be advised: I don't part with my hoard for less than a full-blown 'Oh, crap, we're all gonna die!' emergency. Understood?"

Nabiki nodded, her curiosity peaked. What was in that bag?

Ranma opened it and poured out a handful of gems. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds scattered across the table; all of them flawless and glittering in the electric light of the kitchen. Nabiki had a miniature orgasm from her avarice jumping to the front. Ranma, of course, knew it the instant it happened. He smirked and looked her in the eye.

"Like what you see, Nabiki?"

Nabiki could only gape in astonishment. This guy was LOADED!

"Goddess, Ranma! There's enough here to buy the house and property three times over! Where did you get this from?"

Ranma smirked a bit. "I told you, it's from my personal horde; and I do mean PERSONAL, Nabiki."

Wiping the smirk from his face, he counted out three diamonds, two rubies, and five sapphires.

"I want these turned into cash money, half of that is my contribution to the household expenses. The other half I would like in my hand." He moved over another ruby. "That one is yours. And this one," he moved an emerald over, "is for Kasumi. This one," here he moved a smaller diamond over "is for Akane. Those are for personal enjoyment, and NOT to be liquidated, understood?" seeing Nabiki nod in understanding, he carefully raked the remaining gems back into the bag and closed it. He then took the emerald and stood up from the table, right before wiping it off with a damp cloth. "I'm going to give this one to Kasumi, and then get dressed. We'll be leaving for my father's home in about twenty minutes, so I'd take this time to get a heavy coat and some long pants, father's home can be quite… drafty." He chuckled a little to himself as he walked back into the living room.

Nabiki, for her part, was still trying to get her hormones under control after that casual display of wealth. Granted, she didn't do the mercenary thing anymore, but she still placed high value on money. And seeing all of those valuable gems just got her going. Without thinking about the fact that she was still in her night shirt and not a blessed thing else, she whipped it off and raked the small pile of gems into it. She then walked, somewhat unsteadily, back to her bedroom to try and figure out what to do with all this wealth.

A few minutes later, Ranma was standing in the living room, watching Kasumi nibble on the strawberry slices. He was trying to figure out how to present it to her, without seeming to forward.

[I could just walk up to her and say 'here you go!', but that's not very appropriate…]

Ranma's musing was cut off when he felt two slender arms around his chest and a female voice saying thank you into it. Somehow, Kasumi had gotten up from the couch and hugged him, without his noticing. Smiling, he hugged her back and told her she was welcome.

"Kasumi?" he started.

"Hmm?" she mumbled from his chest.

"I want to give you something. Before I do, I just want to say that I'm not trying to buy your affections, I just want you to have this, okay?"

Kasumi looked up at him with curiosity in her eyes. "What, Ranma?"

He then carefully handed her the emerald, and watched with delight as she gasped.

"Ranma! Where did you get this? It's so pretty…"

"It's from my personal horde; and don't worry, I have more. That one is for you and you alone. You can do whatever you'd like with it, so long as you don't sell it. Also, since we're going to meet my father, I think you will want to put on some long pants and a heavy coat, Father's house is a bit chilly."

Kasumi rarely acted on impulse, she always tried to maintain an air of quiet dignity and proper reservation, but she just couldn't help herself this time. Without a thought to the consequences, she threw her arms around Ranma's neck and kissed him soundly, full on the lips. She let go and skipped off to go and put her treasure away and find something to wear.

Ranma, for his part, stood there with a glazed expression on his face and a goofy smile. That had been his first kiss, and it had knocked his metaphoric socks off.

Soun smiled. Ranma was turning out to be a god-send for his children. But, what should he do about the agreement to unite the schools? He'd need to call Genma and talk to him.

[Best to wait until they're gone for that…] he thought. [No telling how Ranma might react to seeing Genma again.]

A short time later, Ranma and two thirds of the Tendo Trio were standing outside the house, ready to depart. Nabiki and Kasumi were both rather uncomfortable in the long pants and coat, seeing as it was early summer and rather warm.

"Alright," Ranma began, "hold onto me and get ready, this is going to feel… odd."

Both girls latched onto an arm and braced themselves for anything.

What they got was a momentary feeling of displacement and nausea, and then it was gone. As soon as they opened their eyes, however, they saw an expanse of clouds and a large medieval European castle, seemingly made of white stone.

"Ladies," he began, "welcome to my father's home, the Cloud Castle. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to him."

A few moments passed as the trio walked through the halls, the girls asking about this trinket or that knickknack and Ranma explain how and where his father got them. It was exceptionally interesting to see the girls react to the statue of the troll in the corner, especially when Ranma explained that his father had turned that troll to stone, in order to stop it from terrorizing a small village in what later became Germany. Eventually, they came to the main hall, and there lay Glalihern, in all his draconic glory, observing his scrying pool.

"Father!" Ranma called out, "I'm back, and I brought visitors!"

Glalihern turned and regarded them with an amused look.

"Welcome, ladies. I, as I'm sure you've heard; am Glalihern, Ranma's father. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Myscale told me about you, though she glossed over how beautiful they are."

Glalihern chuckled a bit.

"Ranma, you certainly have good taste in females."

"Daaaaaad…" Ranma sighed, embarrassment coloring his tone.

Kasumi dipped into a low curtsy, not sure of how one greats a dragon. Nabiki did the same, after seeing her sister do so. Nabiki's nervousness was obvious, and kasumi seemed more in awe than anything else.

"Umm… Sir?" Nabiki began, "You're not going to… eat us, are you?"

Glalihern looked at her for a moment before laughing, full throated.

"Ranma!" he said, "What have you been telling these girls? No, dear, I'm not going to eat you. I don't eat sentient beings of any species. Matter of fact, I was just about to have breakfast, would you care to join me?"

"No thank you, Father. We actually finished breakfast not too long ago. I just wanted to introduce you to the girls and ask you a couple of questions."

Glalihern looked at Ranma for a moment.

"No, son, we've been over this already. You can't borrow the car."

Everyone face-faulted then, even Myscale.

"No, dad, I wasn't- wait, do we even have a car?"

That was when Glalihern face-faulted. It's an interesting thing, seeing a very, very large dragon with its face in the ground. Kind of like watching a large dog drag something out of a hole, only to find it's too big to pull out. Very funny looking, when you think about it!

"At any rate, I trust Myscale told you about the idiot that we encountered this morning?"

Glalihern nodded after righting himself. "Yes, she did mention something like that. Has this… biped… actually tried to assault the young Miss Tendo?"

Well, he issued a challenge in her sophomore year of high school," Nabiki began, "it pretty much declared that he'd only let someone who could beat her at fighting date her. I still don't know why the rest of the guys in school would agree to such a thing, but they were there the next morning and every morning after that trying to fight her for a date. Once she'd handled all of them, Kuno himself would po out from the tree and challenge her to fight him. Somehow, she always managed to win."

Glalihern nodded.

"Yes, son, this goes directly against one of your founding principles. He's trying to rape her before the fact."

Nabiki and Kasumi's eyes got huge when he said this, and Kasumi had to put her hand in front of her mouth to keep from crying out.

Ranma, for his part, was waiting for the rest of it.

"You see, once he'd beaten her, and felt that he was entitled to her, he'd feel that he could take her any time he felt like it. And, Akane would only be able to resist him for so long before he felt he needed to use force to get what he wanted; namely, Miss Akane's virtue."

Ranma's aura was dong a slow crawl up and down his body, showing to the girls just how truly angry he was.

"I see." he said.

Somehow, in spite of the cold air at their present altitude, everyone was chilled by that simple statement.

"Well, Dad; thanks for the tip, but I need to get these two home and get ready to meet this Kuno and …talk… about a few things. Yes, defiantly going to need a long …chat… to help him see the error of his ways."

The three watching would have been fooled if the energy playing across his arms and chest didn't make him look more draconic than he already did.

"Ranma," Glalihen began, "calm down. First, you need to try to talk to this guy and try to get him to understand what he's doing, he might not be aware of it. Second, you know perfectly well that Miss Akane is not Little Miro. "

Ranma's head snapped around and his expression hardened. He shot a flat stare at Glalihern and walked off, without a word.

"Umm…" Kasumi said, "Pardon me for asking, but who is Little Miro?"

Glalihern sighed.

"Little Miro was Ranma's semi-adopted sister with the Moonscale tribe of lizard-folk. I say semi-adopted, because they made Ranma an honorary member of their tribe when he was fifteen. We were making a trip into the Realms to further his training when we came across them. Ranma saved a group of them from a Cambion with a combination of his breath attack, magic, and martial skill. They adopted him on the spot, and Miro was the youngest member of that tribe. She sort of became his unofficial sister, as I said. The problem is that an older member of the tribe wanted to take Miro as his mate, forgetting that she was barely old enough for such things. She said no, he insisted, and when Ranma tried to get the guy to back off, he attacked. Ranma fought him off, but left him alive. The male in question decided that if he couldn't have Miro, than he certainly wasn't going to let some, and I quote, "warm-blood outsider" have her. So, in a fit of jealous rage, he poisoned Ranma with something that paralyzed him and proceeded to rape Miro, repeatedly, right before cutting off her head and dropping it in Ranma's lap."

Glalihern sighed and continued.

"Ranma, quite naturally, snapped and attacked that male as soon as he could. He quite literally tore him limb from limb and then let him bleed to death in front of him. Ranma has never let the shame of not being able to save her go, and blames himself for her death."

"That's horrible…" Kasumi breathed.

Nabiki was just too stunned to say anything.


	5. Chapter 3: A fight!

Dragon Ranma

Chapter 3: A fight ensues, and somebody makes their stance plain.

Disclaimer: Wheeeee! I do own them! I really do! What's more, I own that! And that over there, and this guy! And… I AM THE LIZARD KING! And… and… oh, hi Washuu-chan! Nice outfit, is it naughty nurse time already? What's with the needle? No, I don't need any- Ooooh! Pretty colors!...

Washuu-chan, in the naughty nurse outfit says; "He dosen't own any of this, it's just a story, and he'll be back in his right mind soon. I hope."

Nabiki and Kasumi were deep in thought after the bombshell Glalihern had dropped on them. Ranma had killed someone out of revenge. What other dark secrets was Ranma hiding? Had he gone on a rampage and slaughtered a field full of bunnies or something? (1) Was he secretly a homicidal maniac bent on ravishing them and stealing all their furniture? (2) What on earth was going on here?

"I'm going to find Ranma." Kasumi said "And I'm going to knock some sense into him, and then kiss it right back out of him, and then knock it back into him!" Glalihern smirked; his son was quite the heartbreaker. Nabiki was shocked, since when was KASUMI the bold one? Before either of them could say anything, Kasumi had already marched off in the direction she had last seen Ranma go. Nabiki blinked and turned towards Glalihern.

"So, how exactly do things like marriage, pairings, and the like work with dragons?"

Glalihern chuckled. "Thinking about trying to ride one, Miss Nabiki?(3)" Nabiki blushed prettily, a little unsettled that he had seen through her like that.

"W-Well," she hesitated, "I mean, he is easy on the eyes, and charming, and honorable, and… Kasumi is totally smitten with him." She finished with a sigh.

Glalihern favored her with a gentle smile.

"Hang on a moment." He said.

Glalihern concentrated for a moment and shrank. A moment later there was an older man with silver hair and grey eyes wearing a white suit standing where the dragon had been a moment ago.

"Walk with me, Miss Nabiki, and allow me to explain a few things to you." Nabiki agreed and started walking next to him.

"Ranma is one of the few males, of any species that I know of, who has enough love in his heart for more than one female. Now, I'm not referring to a brother-sister or father-daughter kind of love, either. I can honestly say that if you and you sister decided to share him, and he didn't feel like he was being pressured, he'd love you both equally. He would move the planes to make sure that neither of you felt like you were being left out, and he'd fight all of the demons in the lower Hells if it meant keeping you safe. Also, keep in mind that if Ranma decided he loved you both, and you were it for him, he'd never allow anyone else to come between you three. Do you understand?"

Nabiki nodded, her thoughts awhirl with possibilities(4).

"Now, the first thing that I would do, were it me, is talk to your sisters. Tell them how you feel about Ranma, ask if they're open to the idea of sharing him with you, and decide amongst yourselves if that's even a possibility for you first. Then go talk to Ranma and see how he feels about the situation. But, and I cannot stress this enough, do not try to pressure him into either choosing one of you or accepting all of you. If you do that, then he'll bolt; I can guarantee it. And, speaking of the devil, there he is."

Ranma was striking a training post with his practice sword, a look of grim determination of his face. Kasumi was standing nearby, getting ready to pounce on him.

"Ranma!" she called out.

Startled, Ranma missed the next swing and stumbled forward a step.

"Kasumi! What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Well, for starters, you can tell me why what your father said bothered you. He already told Nabiki and me, but I want to hear from you."

"I'd rather not talk about it, Kasumi" he said.

"Well," she said, "I do want to talk about it! I want to know why you're still beating yourself up about it. It's not your fault that it happened."

Ranma whirled on her, eyes alight with fury and sorrow. "Yes it is! If I hadn't been there, or if I had been stronger, or if I'd dealt with him before then, she'd still be alive! It is my fault!"

Kasumi marched up to him, reaching him within moments.

"NO IT'S NOT!" she exclaimed.

"Wasn't there some sort of demon after their tribe?" she asked. "From what I understood, they would have all been killed if you hadn't shown up when you did. Not only that," she continued, "but the guy had poisoned you! Nobody can be expected to be able to even move when something like that happens, let alone fight! Just be glad you were able to avenge her, and let the past rest!"

"Ranma," Kasumi went on, "Our father lost our mother when we were very young, he sank into a state of grief that he hasn't managed to come out of yet, and that was ten years ago! Don't let this consume you the way that did our father, please."

Kasumi looked Ranma directly in the eye and took a quick breath. With little preamble and nothing more said, she pounced. Ranma didn't know what hit him, first he's mad as all get-out, then he's here to blow off some steam, and then Kasumi is giving him the grand-mother of all kisses. He got wobbly in the knees when she introduced her tongue to his, and was barely holding himself back from snatching her up, whisking her away, and doing naughty, naughty things to her.

Nabiki coughed into her hands, in a bid to get her intended's attention and make them come up for air.

Kasumi and Ranma separated their faces with an audible 'pop!' sound, and turned their attention towards Nabiki. Well, Kasumi did. Ranma needed a moment to compose himself(5).

"As much fun as I'm sure that was, and as much as I wish I'd been a part of I, we do need to talk."

Ranma smirked, and beckoned to Nabiki. To her everlasting surprise, she went to him, and was totally unprepared for what happened next.

Ranma caught her and Kasumi up in a passionate embrace and pressed their bodies up against his. He then proceeded to give Nabiki a passionate kiss, one that made her weak in the knees and turned her mind blank from the passion. Kasumi wanted to grumble, she really did, but she honestly didn't really mind. Granted, she was a touch jelous that Ranma wasn't kissing her like that, but better to share the pie and all that, right?

Glalihern watched everything and smiled. These girls would be good for his son, he knew it. Now, if he could just get his semi-niece hooked up, then his family would be all set! He shook off the moment of reverie and coughed politely into his hand. Three faces turned towards him, but the youths didn't seem inclined to let go.

"Now, as I was going to say earlier," he began, "try talking to him first, an only use violence if it becomes absolutely nessesary, understood?"

Ranma nodded. "Yes sir, I understand."

Glalihern clapped his hands together. "Good! Now, let's get something to eat, my stomach's about to cave in!"

All of them laughed, and moved to the main hall.

Nabiki spontaneously checked her watch. "Well, Mr. Glalihern," she said, "It's actually closer to lunch time where we're from. Maybe we could all go out to eat there?"

"That is an excellent idea, Nabiki!" Ranma praised. In spite of herself, Nabiki blushed. "Where should we go?"

"I have an idea!" Kasumi said, "Let's go to UcChan's Okonomiyaki! It's not too far from the house, the prices are really reasonable, and the food there is excellent!"

"Wonderfull!" Glalihern exclaimed. "Now, if you'll let him go, Ranma and I can fly you girls down there."

The three youths blushed in harmony, they were so comfortable being held by each other, they simply didn't notice they hadn't let go yet. Reluctantly, they let go of each other and smiled.

Glalihern looked at Ranma and smirked. "I think we'll need the Eastern Field for this, don't you?"

Ranma paused for a moment, saw the look in Glalihern's eyes, and got a wicked gleam in his.

"Yes, dad, defiantly the Eastern Field." he agreed.

A few moments later, the group was in a place that Ranma and his father had said was the "Eastern Field" and were getting ready to depart.

The eastern field was an expanse of open "ground" that, as they explained, would be large enough for them to stretch their wings.

Ranma and his father both concentrated for a moment, and then grew. When everything was said and done, there was an extremely large dragon before them and a smaller one to the side. The girls instantly knew that the smaller one was Ranma, and ran up to feel him. Ranma's scales were silky smooth and the color of polished steel. Both girls knew instantly that they were twice as hard as diamond and lighter than a feather. For some reason, the both wanted to cuddle him right then.

"Now, you girls are going to have to flip a coin to see who rides whom, Ranma's not quite big enough to carry two people just yet."

The two girls were off to the side whispering fiercely for a moment, before the distinctive "pling!" of a coin being flicked sounded through the area. Both girls watched the coin like a hawk, and after bouncing a moment or two, it finally came to a rest.

"Woo-hoo!" Nabiki yelled! "My turn first!" the girl seemingly skipped over to Ranma and began the process of trying to figure out how to mount a dragon's neck.

Kasumi pouted cutely, and Ranma made the mental promise to take her flying very soon.

Glalihern saw the trouble both girls were going to have and explained to them, mirth quite evident in his voice, that they had to step on the shoulder and grip the ridge in order to hoist their selves up.

"Or," he chuckled, "you could let Ranma poke his nose between your legs and lift you that way."

Both girls got contemplative looks on their faces, and eerily similar 'Hmmm's sounded from them in unison. Ranma shook his head and laughed. He then wrapped his tail around Kasumi and gently set her on Glalihern's shoulder and proceeded to do the same for Nabiki on his own back.

Kasumi would later describe it as being on a horse(7), albeit one that could fly and breath super-cold frost on things that annoyed and/or offended it. With little preamble, the two dragons took wing and began to fly in the direction of Japan. A few minutes of some really fast flying later, and t he group landed in an empty lot, not too far from their destination. The two dragons quickly shape-shifted back to their "human" forms and walked to the famous Uc-Chan's Okinomiyaki.

The quartet made small talk along the way, generally discussing viewpoints on art and literature, when the road in front of them was suddenly blocked by none other than Tatewaki Kuno. He quickly looked around and saw Nabiki and approached her with a determined air.

"Mercenary one, I have need of new pictures of mine fierce tigress Akane Tendo. Perchance, have you any to sell to me?"

Ranma's ire began growing with the buffoons words.

Nabiki shook her head, and said "No, kuno, I don't. Furthermore, I won't be selling you anymore of them. My sister is not a commodity that I can sell, so please stop this harassment. Otherwise…"

Kuno narrowed his eyes contemptuously at her. "Pray tell, otherwise what, exactly."

"Otherwise, " she continued, "I'll be forced to press charges of stalking, assault, and attempted rape, to name a few."

Kuno's eyes bulged briefly. "Attempted rape? Are you daft, woman? To think that one such as I, Tatewaki Kuno, would do such a thing! It is slander! And I will not have you spout such drivel! Now, know you place and give me what I ask for!"

His comments had royally pissed Ranma off, and had made Glalihern more than a little upset as well. So much so, that they both started growling.

Ranma, with as much calm as he could muster, stepped in front of Nabiki and looked Kuno directly in the eye. "I would suggest that you apologize to Nabiki for the manner in which you spoke. It is neither honorable, nor becoming one of your supposed station, to speak to a woman in such a manner."

"Apologize? To the likes of her?" Kuno exclaimed with a fair amount of shock. "Never! The noble house of Kuno would never stoop so low as to apologize to the likes of Nabiki Tendo! She is well known for her money-grubbing and mercenary ways! I will not; nay, will never, apologize to one such as she!"

That did it, as far as Ranma was concerned. This fool was going down, and going down hard.

Ranma pulled his practice sword and shield out and took a ready stance, "Than you will suffer for your insult, Kuno." He said with a snarl, "Stand and deliver, fool!"

Ranma wasted no time, and launched a vicious overhead chop. Kuno blocked the strike and attempted to launch a retaliatory strike at Ranma's midsection, only to have his bokken bounce off Ranma's shield. Ranma launched a lightning-fast combo of thrusts and slashes, none of which were really meant to connect, so Kuno was able to block them all, with difficulty. Capitalizing on a small lull in the pace of battle, Kuno stepped into his staccato-thrust maneuver, all of which were blocked by Ranma's shield. Having had enough of the battle, Ranma decided to end this farce of a duel. Ranma stepped close and seemingly launched into a shoulder charge. Kuno, predictably, attempted a diagonal slash at Ranma's exposed head. Ranma caught the strike on his shield, and launched a kick at Kuno's knees. This had the predicted effect of forcing Kuno to take a half-step back to keep his knees intact. Ranma capitalized on it by shield slamming the arm with the bokken in it. The arm in question flew out wide, leaving Kuno totally open for a moment. Ranma swiftly launched three horizontal strikes, all of which connected with enough force that, had it been live steel, Kuno would have been neatly quartered. As it stood, he was flung back into the brick wall behind him. The wind was knocked out of him, and Kuno slumped down to the street. Gasping for breath, he looked up find the point of Ranma's practice sword an inch from his face. His gaze traveled up the length of the blade, and Kuno looked directly into Ranma's eyes, and found cold, murderous fury there.

"Yeild, fool. I have won."

Kuno's response died on his lips as the clouds of madness parted for a moment. This newcomer was correct, it was indeed dishonorable to speak in such a manner to any woman, no matter who she was or what she may have done. Kuno nodded in agreement.

"I," he gasped, "I am defeated. I yield. What is your name, sir?"

"Ranma Saotome." He responded. Ranma replaced his sword and shield and then offered Kuno a hand up. "At the moment, I am lodging with the Tendos. I must ask, though, why do you persist in the pursuit of Miss Akane Tendo? Would it not have made more sense to simply ask her if she wanted to date you, rather than attacking her?"

Accepting the offered hand, Kuno thought out his response for a moment. "Akane Tendo is grace and power combined, her fierce strength is only matched by her beauty."

Ranma nodded. "It's true, the Tendo girls are rare beauties, but it still doesn't explain your actions. Because of your proclamation, Miss Akane may never be able to have any sort of relationship with any man, especially yourself!"

Kuno had his second shock of the day then. "You mean to say that my actions, all to find her a worthy man, may have forced her into some sort of unnatural relationship?"

Sadly, before anyone could respond, the clouds of madness once again settled upon Kuno's mind.

"Never! I shall never allow such a travesty! Hark now, Paladin! I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan, will never allow such a travesty of a relationship to come to pass! Now; I must away, and plan how to break the hold this unnaturalness has upon her!"

And Kuno ran off like a psychopathic jack rabbit.

The quartet were rather stunned at this display, and blinked a few times in confusion before shrugging it off. For the dragons, they had seen stranger things. For the Tendo girls; it was Kuno, what could they say?

The rest of the walk was spent in companionable silence, Ranma and the girls were content to simply enjoy each other's company and Glalihern enjoying a nice stroll. Presently, they came to a small restaurant with a sign that simply proclaimed it as 'Uc-Chans!'. Upon entering they saw the large grill where a somewhat effeminate boy was working. He looked up and say the group and favored them all with a smile.

"Welcome to Uc-chans! I'm Ukyo Kuongi(7), the owner. What can I get for you?" Nabiki ordered for them all, and soon the scent of cooking Okinomiyaki was in the air.

"So, Ranma, Glalihern, what do you think so far?" Nabiki asked.

"Well-" Ranma began

"Hold up, Ranma? As in, Ranma Saotome?" Ukyo asked.

"Yes, but I don't believe we've met before, Miss Kuongi." Ranma replied.

"You've got a lot of nerve saying that. Especially after you and that fat bastard father of yours left me behind on the road all those years ago! You even took my okinomiyaki cart!"

"I did? I think I remember something like that… Well, Genma said it was a gift, and at SIX YEARS OLD, how was I to know he was lying? Also, Miss Kuongi, why, exactly, were you supposed to be coming with us?"

"My father and your father made the arrangement that we were to be married! That cart was supposed to be my dowry!"

Ranma looked at the heaving girl-dressed-as-a-boy in front of him with something close to non-amusement. "First," he began," What sort of brain-dead sicko tries to marry off a six-year-old girl to a six-year-old boy? Because, that's what it would have amounted to. If there had been any validity to that contract, you'd have stayed there until I had returned, or I would have stayed there and we would have grown up together. We would then have been married when we were old enough, and not one moment before."

Glalihern and the Tendo sisters nodded in agreement. That was how arranged marriages normally worked.

"Not only that, Miss Kuongi, but Mr. Saotome is no longer Ranma's father." Kasumi pointed out. "The evidence is directly in front of you. Note the hair and eye color, and if that doesn't convince you, look at his fore arms."

"That's right," Nabiki piped up, "Ranma pretty much disowned Mr. Saotome when he was left in Mr. Glalihern's care. He raised Ranma from the time he was six up until recently. If anything, Mr. Glalihern is more Ranma's father then Mr. Saotome is!"

Ukyo was looking more and more confused.

"So, you had no idea about any of that, and you've completely disowned Genma Saotome?"

"That about sums it up, yes." Ranma replied.

"Why keep the name, then?" she queried.

"Because," Glalihern replied, "He wanted to hold onto something of his old life, that's why."

The girls in the resturaunt nodded in understanding.

"So, what got you all worked up? Not that being left behind is anything small, mind you, I'm just wondering about the rest of it." Ranma asked.

"My father," she began, "re-registered me on the family rolls as his son and made me act, dress, and behave like a boy until the day I either marry you, or kill both you and Genma Saotome."

The silence was defening at that bit of news.

"Let me see if I understand this." Glalihern began, "Your father arranged a marriage contract between you and Ranma here when you were six. Then, after Ranma and Genma left the area, without you, he disowned you and re-registered you as his son. He then stated that the only way for you to be his daughter again is for you to either marry Ranma or kill both Ranma and Genma. To sum up, either you become a Saotome, or there aren't any more Saotomes. Is that correct?"

Ukyo nodded his head.

"Well," Nabiki said, "the way I see it is that if you were adopted into the Saotome Family, you would have fulfilled the spirit of the order, right? You wouldn't be Ms. Ranma Saotome, which is the letter of the order, but you would be A Miss Saotome, see?"

"Furthermore," Kasumi added, "If it's Ranma's family specifically that you're after, Mr. Glalihern could adopt you and make you his daughter instead."

"It does have merit!" Glalihern added.

"Or, " Ranma continued, "You could simply go to the city registrar and change your last name and status to Miss Saotome. This also fulfills the spirit of the order he gave you, and he' have no place to complain. Although…" he trailed off.

"Although what, son?" Glalihern asked.

Ranma took a deep breath before continuing.

"Although, all this sounds like he wanted to get rid of you, but still make sure you were taken care of. Almost as if he didn't really want a daughter in the first place. I mean no offense, Miss Kuongi, and I sincerely apologise if I have, but that's what it sounds like to me." Ranma stood up andplaced a few bills on the counter. "If you would like to discuss this further, I am currently residing at the Tendo Training Hall. Now, if you'll excuse me, Father, Nabiki, Kasumi, I need a walk to clear my head." And he walked out of the resturaunt, head held low.

Nabiki and Kasumi looked at each other for a moment, until a slight nod of Nabiki's head prompted Kasumi to go out and look for their prospective mutual love interest. Nabiki turned her attention to the still shell-shocked Ukyo and the frowning Glalihern.

"Miss Kuongi," Glalihen began, "I will re-iterate my offer. Should you desire, I will adopt you into my family, although there are things you will need to know first. All I ask is that you think on what we have discussed here today, alright?" she nodded, somewhat absently. "Good. Now, Miss Nabiki, would you be so kind as to grace me with your charming presence, and escort me to where my son resides?"

And, like a true gentleman would, he offered Nabiki his arm, and the two strolled out of the resturaunt, arm in arm.

After a few moments of walking, they came upon the front gates of the Tendo home, only to hear an enraged male voice scream out.

"YOU DID WHAT?"

End Chapter 3.

1. This is possibly the most evil thing Kasumi could come up with on the fly.

2. Nabiki's thoughts; although the first part sounded interesting…

3. Dragonriders are said to have a deep, intimate connection with the dragons they ride. Some say it borders on love, others say it's closer to a "friends with benefits" type of thing.

4. Can you say ménage-a-trios? I knew you could, dirty hentai!

5. Read: shake off the goofy smile and convince his "little soldier" to stand down.

6. She had actually gotten to ride a horse once; it was a fun ride, but short. Akane had thrown a fit and spooked the horse. Hmmm… nah, no parallels, there, right?

7. I'm not sure if this is the correct spelling or not.

Author's Notes:

I don't normally do this, but I feel compelled to explain a few things. First; the half-dragon thing is a blend of both 2nd edition and 3rd edition. If you're not certin what I'm referring to, google AD&D, and then search for Half-Dragon, that should explain most of it.

Moving on; I have been warned that the subject of Rape and the manner in which I deal with it pushes the rating of this fic dangerously close to "M". Well, I don't care. The Realms are a DANGEROUS world and while the heroes are off trouncing the forces of evil, the hapless bystanders are the ones getting caught in the cross-fire. Do you honestly think invading armies of Orcs and whatnot just casually stroll though, walk up to the mayor and go "golly-gee, Mr. Mayor sir, we're taking over now, so tootles!"? No, they call it raping and pillaging for a reason. Additionally, our world isn't exactly friendly either! There is a roughly 1-in-5 chance that any given female could get sexually assaulted at any point in time. So, you can understand why I feel that teenagers, specifically, need to know the dangers and understand them.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my rant.


	6. Omake 2

Dragon Ranma

Omake number 2!

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything here.

Omake 1; Dragon Ranma ½

Tendo Dojo; Nerima, Tokyo, Japan.

"I'm Glalihern, and this is my son, Ranma."

"Are you really her? That girl from before?"

"I am…"

"Hmm… how best to describe this… I know!"

With little preamble, Glalihern tossed Ranma over his shoulder into the Koi pond. Normally, Ranma's hair is silver-white, and his eyes a stormy blue-grey. However, the female that leapt out of the pond had fire-red hair and molten amber eyes, and was currently breathing fire.

"POOOOOOOPSSSSS! YOU ARE SO FRIED!" she growled.

Before Ranma could commence to incinerating her father, Mr. Tendo politely reminded Ranma that is very, very rude to burn down a host's house, and as such, she should calm down and enjoy some tea. Ranma, much to her irritation, did as requested and sat down next to her father. Glalihern launched into the explanation of Jusenkyo, and how Ranma had fallen into the spring of drowned girl. He, himself, however, fell into the spring of drowned hyper-libido-yet-terminally-shy-man.

"So, there you have it."

"Well, son," Soun began, "These are my daughters, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane. Choose any one of them and she'll be you fiancé, and you can get to the heir-raising tonight. You can get married after you graduate. So, who's it going to be?"

Ranma's temper started to flare up, here was her whole future being laid out for her , and she didn't even get so much as a by-your-leave! The fury spiked and she opened her mouth to let it out. What everyone there expected was a long, involved stream of cursing from Ranma; what they got, however, was a long stream of flame blasting out of Ranma's mouth, neatly charring Soun Tendo. He was alive, but extra-crispy.

"What kind of dragon is this for mixed with, Ranma?" Kasumi asked.

"Red, the fire-breathing kind" she responded.

Then and there, they resolved to stay on the good side of the volatile female.

-End-

Omake 2

Dragon ½ Ranma

"Hmm… nope, last I checked, Neither Genma nor Nodoka we're dragons…" Happosai commented.

"Well," Ranma began, "That's because Glalihern here is actually a female dragon under the spring-of-drowned-man curse; when we did the ritual for making me a half-dragon, his actual DNA came to the front. So, my father is a human, my mother is a dragon and that makes me a dragon-half!"

"Are there any real differences between the two?" Nabiki queried.

"Naw," Ranma replied, "the only real difference is that when I do a female shape-shift, I get this strange obsession with metal bras and male Idol-singers. It's bloody strange, I tell ya. That, and I got all fan-girly over a rock musician called Gakt(1) once."

"What do you mean 'fan-girly'?" Akane asked.

"Well," Ranma began, obviously uncomfortable with the topic, "I ran around him screaming 'Wai-Wai! Gakt-Sama is soooo cool! Wai!' At the top of my lungs for a good five minutes before 'Mom' here drug me off."

Everyone developed a sweat-drop at the mental image.

-End-

Omake 3

"That's it! I'm going to go and knock some sense into him, and then kiss it out of him, and then knock it back into him!" Kasumi declared.

Nabiki goggled, since when was KASUMI the bold one?

Kasumi went on, regardless of the strange look she was getting. "And then, I'm going to push him on the ground, and pounce on him, and tear his shirt off, and lick and nibble aaaaaaaaaaalll ooooooooover his booooooody!(2) And then… and then… heheheh…" at that moment, Kasumi's repressed hormones met up with her similarly repressed libido and mutually agreed to kick the living crap out of her higher cognitive functions. In other words, she passed out with a goofy smile and a trickle of blood coming out of her nose.

Nabiki's eyes were the size of dinner plates and her jaw was on the ground. KASUMI? Litlle miss perfect angel housewife? Miss Prim-and-Proper? KASUMI just passed out from an ecchi thought?

Somewhere in the lower planes, several demons were wondering whether or not the boss would call a day off for this one. It's hard to contemplate evil in the middle of a howling blizzard, after all.

-End-

Omake 4

The Clouds of madness parted for a moment, allowing Kuno to truly see reality. Unfortunatly, when your entire family is high on that stuff, clear thought tends to only look that way from the inside. Kuno reflected on what the man in front of him had said. True, it is dishonorable and ignoble to speak in such a manner to any woman, regardless of station. Also true, the Mercenary Tendo was a woman. However, she was still a mercenary; and therefore beneath his station. He was not to have dealings with those beneath his station in life, or so he had been told, so…

"I see…" He said.

" I see it all so clearly! I must henceforth cease all dealings with you, Nabiki Tendo. I apologise for my behavior, but it is beneath my staton to have dealings with mercenaries outside of combat. Good day to you, Miss Nabiki Tendo."

The clouds of madness descended upon him once again, and he wandered off, spouting mangled poetry.

"Wow that was unusually clear for Kuno-baby…" Nabiki said.

"How do you mean?" Ranma queried.

"Normally, Kuno is waaaay off base, but today he was actually close…" she replied.

"Yeah?" Ranma asked, "he normally jumps to conclusions then?"

"Yep," Nabiki responded, "Only Kuno baby can add two and two and have the sum be stapler.(3)"

-End-

(1) Look up Gakt, Gaktjob, or Gakt Kamui on your browser; you'll see what I mean.

(2) This is from an old Dean Martin skit; I can't for the life of me remember the comedian, though.

(3) This one is from a webcomic called Dan and Mab's Furrae andventures, it's funny as all heck.

Author's Rants and raves:

This is an Omake chapter, mostly used as filler until I can catch that muse of mine and stick her in a frikkin cage. If you, dear reader, have any additional Omake that you would like to add, please send them to me via e-mail or some similar means of communication, and I will post the ones I like with full accreditation. Additionally, I'll be reviewing, revising, and reposting several of my older stories soon, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for taking the time to read these rants.

-Tamphis


	7. Chapter 4: Fall of the Ivory Spire

Dragon Ranma

Chapter 4

The Ivory Spire Falls

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of the intellectual property used herein. Any and all original characters, locations, and events are mine and mine alone, but may be used in additional works with proper accreditation.

WARNING: VERY dark chapter, dealing with death, war, and "adult" situations. While I won't get into details, I will be strongly insinuating a lot of things. You have been warned.

"YOU DID WHAT?" came the strident cry of a male. This voice held notes of shock, outrage, and just a touch of betrayal. In order to properly understand where all this was coming from, we must backtrack to this morning, shortly after Ranma and the Tendo girls departed for Glalihern's Castle.

Soun Tendo smiled with a bit of joy. Finally, after all these years, Genma and he could put "the plan" into action. Granted, the Omai had nothing to do with the schools of Anything-Goes, rather it was fiscal in origin, but there was still an Omai, and the properties were the dowry; all according to plan. Soon, very soon, all would be in readiness. First, however, Soun needed to get in touch with Genma and tell him the good news.

Soun got up and walked over to the phone, passing the hallway mirror in the process. Unavoidably, he looked himself over. People might think that his sin was sloth, but it was actually vanity. His long hair was still dark black, despite his age of 41, and no wrinkles had yet marred his chiseled features. His body was still hard and tones, in spite of only practicing the art enough to keep in shape. Yes, vanity was Soun Tendo's primary sin, and it took a close second to his greed.

Shaking off his musing, Soun picked up the receiver and dialed an all-too familiar number.

/Hello? Saotome residence, Nodoka speaking./

Soun grinned, in spite of himself. Nodoka was always so proper, even over the phone.

/Nodoka? It's Soun. Is Genma around?/

/Just a moment, please./

A moment of silence passed, and then a familiar voice came over the phone.

/Genma here, what's going on Soun?/

/Genma? He's alive! Ranma's ALIVE! He's staying at my house! I got him to agree to the union, but he thinks it's for financial reasons, not the schools! But that's not important, Genma, he's alive and the plan can go ahead after all!/

Genma stood in shock. The boy? Alive? And living at the Tendo's? Genma well knew that Ranma was alive, having left him with the dragon himself. However, the lie that he'd told Soun much earlier had enabled him to free-load for a good, long while. Perhaps it was time to come clean? After all, what he'd told Nodoka was closer to the truth…

/Soun, old friend, Nodoka and I will be there soon. Is he there now?/

/No, he and the girls went off to visit his adopted father. They should be home in the afternoon./

/Good, good… We'll be there soon, Tendo. Till then./

/Till then, Saotome./

Soun had no sooner put down the phone then he heard the sound of his daughter and would-be son-in-law approaching the house. Judging from the sounds of their voices, something had happened and Ranma was rather upset about it. He wondered what had happened.

"Ranma, I keep telling you, it's not your fault! You couldn't have known, and it's not like there was any time for Mr. Saotome to tell you, either!" Kasumi said.

"I know, Kasumi-chan," Ranma said wearily, "but I still feel like it's somehow my fault, you know? Like, if I'd known about it then something could have been done differently, you know?"

"Ranma," Kasumi sighed, "I know what you're saying; now hear what I'm saying: IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT! You don't need to feel bad about this! It's admirable that you do, but there's nothing to be done, but wait for her decision."

Ranma paused, and then heaved a sigh. "You're right… but I still feel the way I feel. I'll just have to support whatever choice she makes and hope it's not one that ends in marriage." he grinned a little rakishly and continued. "Besides, there are only two women that I have my eyes on."

"Oh, really?" Kasumi asked archly, "And, these two women your eyes are upon, are they… nice"

Ranma smirked a little. "Oh, yes. They're both very sweet, in their own ways."

"Yeah?" she asked, moving a little closer. "Are they… pretty?"

Ranma smirked more. "Indeed, they're both exceptionally beautiful."

"Ahhh… I see." Kasumi breathed sensually. She closed the few inches between them and wrapped her arms around Ranma's neck. "Do I know them?"

"Well, I should think so, they live in this area." Ranma replied, wrapping his arms around Kasumi's waist to bring her closer to him.

"Really?" she purred, closing in so that their faces were only millimeters apart, "and, these girls who live in this area and I know, what would their names be?"

"As much as I like seeing you two getting closer;" Soun grinned a little, "I need to tell you something. Kasumi, could you put some tea on? We'll have a couple of guests in a few minutes."

Reluctantly, Kasumi pulled away from Ranma and moved towards the kitchen. She paused a moment, and it occurred to her to ask who was paying them a visit.

"Why, my dear old friend Genma and his wife Nodoka, of course. I called them a few minutes again and invited them over to get re-acquainted with Ranma."

Ranma was simultaneously feeling shocked, angered, and betrayed. He had told Soun he wanted nothing to do with the Saotomes! He knew he had!

"YOU DID WHAT?" he screamed.

"Why are you upset, son?" Soun enquired, genuine confusion evident on his face. After so long, he should want to see his mother, at least.

Ranma was spared the need to comment by Nabiki calling out that she had returned, and that she'd brought Mr. Glalihern with her. What she saw when she walked in was her father staring in confusion at Ranma, who was standing in front of him, with his fists clenched and his arms trembling with rage. Almost instantaneously, Nabiki crossed the intervening space and had her arms wrapped around Ranma, whispering soothingly in his ear and rubbing his back in small circles. Her efforts to calm him down were meeting with success and he had actually started to return the embrace when the doorbell rang again. Soun stood up and moved to answer the door.

* * *

><p>Simultaneously, across more dimensional barriers than the author cares to think about, a war was being waged. The attackers were a motley assortment of humans, human-ish beings, what appeared to be undead, and monsters from the deepest nightmares of humanity. All of them were garbed in black mail with blood-red designs painted on their pauldrons. They were attacking a massive spire, made of what appeared to be sun-bleached bone. The defenders were of a similar grouping; humans, elves, dwarves, and assorted similar beings. They were garbed in silver mail, bearing a device painted in leaf-green and gold upon their pauldrons as well.<p>

The battle was not going well for the defenders, as even a casual observer could see that the opposing forces outnumbered the defenders nearly ten to one. Let us close in upon the defenders, and focus on one individual.

She is a beauty of a woman, of obvious elven descent, and graced with a figure most women would gladly sell their soul for. Her long, amethyst hair hung freely around her face, and her intelligent violet eyes studied the battlefield from behind well-crafted glasses. Her, some would say sensuous, mouth was currently turned in a frown, as it was obvious that the spire would fall to the attackers.

"Magistress Rilone, what are your orders?" a male figure in plate asked, his visor blocking his features. Rilone sighed. She hated being the one in charge, and having to make the hard decisions. However, they could not allow the spire to fall, it's perimeter to be breached. They defiantly could not allow the contents to be removed or tainted, too much was at stake!

"We cannot allow the spire to be breached… we must hold the line. Have every spellcaster with any force left to them meet me in the Nave in five minutes, we'll have to try and summon… something that can help us."

"Milady, Perhaps your cousin…?"

"General; my cousin returned to his native plane years ago, he did tell us that we could contact him, but only in an extreme emergency. Are you saying that you have neither faith in you men, nor hope that we can do this on our own?"

"Begging your pardon, Magistress, but I am a pragmatist first and foremost. I know what is going on out there, and I know we are living on borrowed time. Now, if you and the other mages can pull a miracle off then by all means, do so. However, I feel that this constitutes an extreme emergency, what with the GOD OF NECROMANCY being sealed in this tower and all. So, what are you going to do? Realistically, we've got half an hour before they overrun us. With some powerful aid and healing spells, I give us one hour, and that is it."

Rilone gave the general a long look, and sighed. "If we can't figure something out in the next fifteen minutes, I'll contact my cousin. Just… hold the line for as long as possible, alright?"

"Naturally, Magistress; for as long as possible." The general snapped a salute and marched off to the battle. Rilone sighed again, knowing full well that she had just ordered the deaths of at least half of the company, just to buy enough time to maybe whip up something to maybe, possibly, save their bacon. She, realistically, knew that she'd have to call Cousin Ranma soon. At the three minute mark, the assembled mages met Rilone in the Nave of the tower, a place where the positive energy that formed the barrier was greatest. Over the cource of the next fifteen minutes, ideas were brought up, examined, and discarded; one after the other. In the end, it was decided that the best, and safest, route was to open a gate and call Lord General Ranma back to them, regardless of where he was. All the mages present began the preparations for the ritual, completing the circle and gate within a few moments. However, the time they needed to actually cast the spell was to be denied them. Most of the mages left to rejoin the battle, leaving Rilone and three others in the Nave to begin the chant. Sibilant words of power danced and writhed in the air around the four as the spell was sung, and slowly the gate shimmered into existence. However, at this crucial juncture, enemy forces broke through the door and began slaying the casters mid-spell.

Most experienced mages will tell you that for a higher-level spell, interrupting the actual cast can have… unexpected… results. For instance, the magical backlash could turn the caster inside out, into another being entirely, could fail completely, or it could spread the caster's molecules across the multiverse in a thin, pinkish, mist. Luckily for Rilone, she was able to gasp out the final verse even as a mace strike caught her in the back of the head and pitched her into the portal, causing it to wink out of existence.

* * *

><p>Back at the Tendo training hall, things were in a similar state; despite that there was no blood flowing. Yet. Soun was sitting at his usual place at the dining room table, with Nabiki and Kasumi flanking Ranma to his left. Glalihern and Akane were to his right, the latter staring hard with confusion at the two people seated across from him. They were the Saotomes, Genma and Nodoka, respectively. Genma was a large, bald man currently attired in a simple combination of t-shirt and sweat pants, wearing glasses over his eyes. Nodoka was a ravishingly beautiful woma with deep chestnut colored hair and mahogany brown eyes. She was attired in a fetching skirt and blouse combo, being rather baffled at what was going on.<p>

Soun cleared his throat. "Allow me to make the introductions, for those who aren't aware of who is who. Now, this is my dear friend and training partner, Genma Saotome, and his wife, Nodoka Saotome. This fine lad to my left is Ranma Saotome, and his adopted father Glalihern, is the gentleman to my right. Now, I have brought you all here today in order to help long parted family members get re-acquainted. Now, Ranma, why don't you begin by telling your parents where you've been these past twelve years."

All eyes turned to Ranma, who pasted a resolute and grim smile on his face. "No." was all he said. Everyone gaped at him in shock. Well, everyone but Glalihern, that is. Ranma smoothly rose to his feet and turned to look Soun dead in the eyes.

"Mr. Tendo," he began, "I am a tenant in your house, and as such it is not my place to comment on whom your friends are. However, I believe that I made my stance on this issue plain. Now, if you will excuse me, I wish to attend to my evening meditations. Kasumi, Nabiki, goodnight, I'll see you in the morning." And he turned on his heel and left the dining room.

"What in the heck just happened?" Akane asked, "And why didn't Ranma want to see his parents?"

"THAT was my SON?" Nodoka gasped. Her little boy was back from his doze year training trip, and he doesn't even wait to say hello? The shock of it crushed her hopes that Ranma might have some lingering fondness for her. The pain from his almost casual disregard broke her heart and mad her start to cry. Genma, for his part, was becoming furious. First, that boy of his doesn't even try to escape from the dragon. Then he just up and vanishes for twelve years. And finally, he has the nerve to turn his back on his own parents? The nerve!

Oddly enough, Akane's thoughts were along similar lines to Genma's.

Kasumi and Nabiki shared a look and nodded in almost unison.

"Perhaps, Mr. Glalihern could shed some light on Ranma's behavior." Kasumi began. Nabiki continued "Considering that he raised Ranma from the time he was six and all. While he does that, if nobody minds, Kasumi and I have to discuss something with Ranma. Excuse us, please."

Again, all attention turned to a new target, this new target being Glalihern.

"Well played, girls; well played indeed." Glalihern sighed.

"I'll begin twelve years ago, when my scrying pool showed me a little boy acting like a cat…"

(If you don't already know, go back and read the prologue.)

* * *

><p>Ranma was meditating in his room when there was a soft knock at the door. He instantly knew who it was, and asked them to come in with a soft smile. The soft smile turned to a bit of nervousness when he heard the door lock after them. He opened his eyes to see both girls sitting in front of him in radically different attire than earlier. For one thing, they seemed to be wearing bathrobes, and not much else.<p>

"Ranma," Nabiki began, a little nervously, "Kasumi and I have been talking it over, and we want you. Thing is, we both want you, and I am willing to share with Kasumi, as long as it's just her. We don't want to pressure you, but we both want you to know how we feel."

Kasumi nodded and continued. "She's right. I'll share you with Nabiki, if that's what you want to do. I'll admit, and I'm sure that she feels the same way, that I want you to myself, but if sharing is what we need to do to be with you, than that's what we'll do. We just want to know how you feel about it."

Ranma was touched; the two loveliest girls he had ever known were willing to share in his affections, just to be with him. Granted, he felt a little guilty for it, but he honestly couldn't make the choice between them. Both were intelligent, kind, loving, and a whole host of other positive descriptions. He did know, however, that they both had their flaws, but those made them all the more dear to him.

Ranma smiled and gathered both girls into a warm and loving hug.

"I could never choose between you, you're both angles in my eyes. I'm glad you told me about this, it's going to save us a lot of time and heartache. Now, let me say this before we go any further: if you find yourself falling for someone else, please talk to me about it. I won't judge, the goes where it wants to, and we'll figure that out together, alright?"

Both girls nodded in agreement; the idea was more than fair, afterall.

"Right," Nabiki said, "Now that we've got that out of the way and we're officially a trio," grins all around, "it's time to move on to more… pleasant things."

"Yeah? What did you have in mind?"

Nabiki smirked and tossed her robe on the floor. She was not, in fact, nude underneath it; just very close. The little she was wearing was composed of a delicate sapphire-blue lace baby-doll negligee that stopped just below her naughty bits and matching thong panty. Kasumi had followed suit a heartbeat after her sister and was wearing a clingy silk nightgown in a rich chocolate brown that stopped just shy of her knees. Both girls had predatory smiles and were doing a slight turn-and-pose routine for Ranma. He, however, was buisily clenching his nose and trying to swallow against an incredibly dry mouth. He shifted a little in his now-uncomfortably tight pants and wondered where the sudden surge of heat had come from.

Unfortunatly for Ranma, he never had the chance to squeak out a comment, because both girls pounced on him and drug him into an evening of intimate cuddles and heavy petting. Granted, Captain Happy was trying desperately to get "shore leave" in one or the other "golden valley" but Ranma, Nabiki, and Kasumi all agreed that they weren't ready for such "adventures" just yet.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, downstairs from the scene of fan-service delight, Glalihern was finishing up his tale. Nodoka looked at him solemly. "So, my son has not only broken with the clan, he has abandoned his school of martial arts. On top of all that, has become part dragon, and taken up the calling of something called a paladin. Is that right?"<p>

Glalihern nodded. "Yes, Ms. Saotome, that is correct. Ranma is not only of my blood, but he is ranked as Lord General in the Order of Silver Talons. That means that in the land of my birth, Ranma is a landed noble, and has a compliment of five thousand soldiers at his disposal; all of whom are ready, able, and most of all willing, to lay down their life for him at the flash of a blade. He, in spite of his youthful appearance, is well over his eighteen years of life, by this lands reckoning. He learned magic at an early age, and mastered the art of scrying shortly after that. He cast the magics that showed what Mr. Saotome was up to, his spells showed each and every action that Mr. Saotome undertook. For instance, Ms. Saotome, did you know that your husband sold young Ranma to a family for a bowl of rice, two fish, and a few pickled vegetables? That was not the least of his actions, either. I can show you exactly what he was doing during that thrice-damned journey if you wish."

Soun and Nodoka looked thoughtful; Genma was currently an ice sculpture in the back yard and stuck under a hold person spell. Needless to say, he wouldn't be going anywhere for a long, long time. Nodoka looked at Glalihern and nodded.

"Yes, please. I would very much like to know what has happened." she said. Glalihern indicated a mirror on the wall and began to chant the simple spell. The glass clouded up, and images began to appear. They watched every event of the training journey, complete with sound, right up to the point where Glalihern intervened. After it was finished, Soun, Nodoka, and Akane were speechless.

"I believe that states Ranma's case quite clearly, Ms. Saotome. It's not that he doesn't trust you, it's simply that he doesn't know you, and can only work off of his understanding of what a mother is supposed to do and how one is supposed to behave. To his mind, no good mother would have let Mr. Saotome just up and take her son away; furthermore, no good mother would have allowed all the things that happened, to happen. So, you can see why he was less than loving twords you, Ms. Saotome."

Further conversation was interrupted by a flash of light and a crashing impact. The assembled people looked outside and saw a yawning portal of swirling green and silver light appear, t wavered for a moment, and then spat a female figure out before crashing closed. The woman moaned and attempted to push herself up, but failed and collapsed back on the ground. Soun immediately sprinted over to where she was while screaming for someone to get the first aid kit. Surprisingly, it was Nodoka who did, while Glalihern was busy chanting warding and barrier spells in order to make sure nothing else popped through. The women moaned again and fluttered open her eyes. The first sight was a man carefully cradling her against him and nursing the wound on the back of her head. "shh… you'll be alright, you're safe now. We'll protect you." She gave a slight nod and passed out.

Glalihern looked over at her and gasped in shock.

"That's my niece Rilone! What's she doing here? Oh, flaming hell, if she's here that's not good for the realms…"

"What do you mean, Glalihern?" Soun asked.

"If she's here, she's here for Ranma, and that means that the Ivory Spire has fallen."

"Is that bad?" asked Akane

"Yes, Miss Akane, that's very bad. The Ivory Spire is where a lesser God is sealed, the God of Necromancy, Nithorn. If his followers manage to revive him, or some other group gains control of his power, then undeath will spread like a plague across the realms, eventually coming here. This is very, very bad. I need to get Ranma."

Luckily for the modesty of everyone involved, the flash of actinic light had pretty much disrupted the trio's "happy-fun-time", and everyone was more or less appropriately attired when Glalihern came in.

He gave Ranma an old-fashioned look and commented that a bath might not be a bad idea, after he talked with him. Ranma was given the rundown about what had happened, and he drew the same conclusion as Glalihern.

"Ranma," Nabiki said, "It might be better to wait for this Rilone person to wake up and find out what, exactly, happened before rushing off to heaven-knows-where."

"I agree," Kasumi voiced, "It might not be what you fear, and if it is then it's best to be prepared, right?"

Ranma nodded. "You are both exactly right. The elves have a saying; 'don't sight your arrow before stinging your bow'. Let's wait for my cousin to wake up before making any decisions."

No sooner said, than the woman in question awoke with a start. She looked around wildly before resting her eyes on the man before her. The scene would have been magical, she smiled shyly and blushed cutely, he smiled back, and got ready to ask her name. Then she shattered it by squinting at him and moving closer all of a sudden, causing both of their heads to collide suddenly. The sight was so comical, that everyone couldn't help but laugh a bit at the scene.

The tension was officially broken, and Rilone managed to locate her glasses. Of cource, the first person she saw was Soun, and now that she could see him clearly, she was instantly smitten. The effect was quite naturally ruined when Ranma cleared his throat and spoke.

"Rilone, as good as it is to see you again, what is going on?"

She blinked and looked over at him.

"Ranma, it's terrible! The army of Ka'Stcheth overran the Ivory spire! I'm not sure whatthey wanted, but all of the Silver Talons are dead! They all got killed, and we couldn't stop it! I survived, but only because I was knocked through the gate we made to call you! What are we going to do, Ranma? You know what was sealed there, YOU put it there! We... we…" everything else was drowned out in soft crying and sobs as Soun cradled Rilone to his chest and tried to comfort her.

"Ranma," Glalihern spoke, "You need to go back and stop whatever they have planned. Ka'Stcheth is utterly ruthless and Bahamut only knows what he's capable of. You, better than anyone, know what Nithorn can do."

Ranma frowned in thought. He really didn't want to go, but his honor and his vows demanded it. However; before he could even put voice to his thoughts, Kasumi spoke.

"Ranma, if you think you're going to galavant off to some forsaken spit of reality and leave us here, you've got another thing coming, mister. I can't speak for Nabiki, but wherever you go, I'm going too. And don't you dare try and talk me out of it, buddy! Unless, that is, you'd rather sleep on the couch for the next ten years?" Ranma shook his head vigourously. "Good. Now, what do I need to pack, when are we going, and how are we getting there?"

Nabiki chimed in at this point. "Is there any sort of special training or items we might need? The better prepared we are, the safer we'll all be. And don't for an instant think that you two are going alone! Someone has to keep you two out of trouble, and I'll be blasted and burned before I leave the safety of the ones I love to someone else! Now, we should rest and start getting ready in the morning, agreed?"

Everyone nodded. Kasumi, Nabiki, and Ranma went to Kasumi's room, while Miss Saotome and Genma went into the guest room. Rilone went into the room that Ranma was supposed to be staying in, and Glalihern teleported back to his castle after promising to return in the morning.

Soon, everyone was snuggled down in their respective beds, either separate or together, and the sounds of sleep soon began echoing through the house. Rilone, however, was having trouble sleeping, visions of taught abs, long black hair, and dark brown eyes kept intruding.

"Soun…" she whispered, before rolling over and trying to court sleep.

-End chapter—

Author's Ranting Corner: HEY! I know it's been a while, but I've been busy. Anyway, I'll try and get the next chapter out soon, but I'm not making any promises on the time table. At any rate, I had some suggestions on character classes for the Tendo girls, and while I defiantly appreciate the ideas, I know where I'm taking them. Wait and see! Now, if you're wondering exactly whar Ranma's class breakdown is, allow me to elaborate for you:

Ranma Saotome

Half-dragon Paladin (Silver Talons Order)

EL: 40

CL: Pal 18, Mnk: 18, LA +4

Paladins of the Order of Silver Talons may multiclass to Monk with no penalties. Additionally, Monks of the Order of Silver Talons may multiclass to Paladin with no penalties.

Spell-like abilities: Because of his half-dragon blood, Ranma may cast arcane spells as a fifth level sorcerer, with the appropriate penalties for wearing armor. He does not, however, get any of the other spell-like abilities save the breath-weapon and the enhanced stats.

Now, if you want to see an actual character sheet, then you'll have to ask me very, very nicely.

Till next time!

-Tamphis.


	8. Chapter 5, Onward to Adventure!

Dragon Ranma

Chapter 5

Onwards to Adventure!

The next morning arrived with grace and dignity, a state that was not shared by the occupants of one Tendo Training Hall. Kasumi, Nabiki, and Ranma had yet to rise and as such, the furo had not been warmed up, breakfast was not being prepared, and the dirty clothes of the previous day had not been washed. While most of the world would feel that the one responsible for these tasks was simply taking a much-needed break, the normal denizens of the house thought something akin to Armageddon was knocking on their door. Soun Tendo, patriarch of the clan, was torn between several extremes, happiness that his oldest daughters were going out into the world, fear that they were going be hurt, worry that they would be doing so in the company of a man, elation that said man was, in fact, the son of his long-time training buddy Genma, and finally mortal fear for his continued good health and life as the youngest of the Daughters Tendo had decided that she'd cook breakfast for her family.

Now, it is often assumed that Akane Tendo cannot cook. This is not true, she can quite efficiently cook. However; she fails to understand that the act of preparation of the food imparts the "flavor" of the chef's mental and emotional state upon the meal being prepared. Since she gets frustrated, jealous, and angry quite often and easily, whatever she's cooking carries a defiantly unpleasant taint.

However, only Kasumi understands this facet of the culinary arts, which is why almost everyone in her family considers Akane's attempts at cooking to be something along the lines of DEFCON 4. Not quite an "Oh, crap, we're gonna Die!" but very, very close.

It has been previously mentioned that Kasumi is very "in tune" with the Wa of her house, especially her kitchen, and at that moment it was screaming at her that they needed to get up and stop something bad from happening. So, Kasumi jumped up from a dead sleep, woke both her warm cuddle-bunny and sister, and dashed downstairs, headless of her attire. She arrived on scene just in time to stop Akane from grabbing the box of baking soda and adding it to the miso soup in place of the salt and proceeded to calmly remind Akane that she needed to pay attention to the recipe and above all else, focus on the love she has for her family while she's cooking in order to have the meal turn out wonderful, and, more importantly, edible.

For once, Akane actually listened. Although, it probably had more to do with the much abbreviated chocolate-brown silk nightgown Kasumi was currently sporting and the massive hicky that bloomed upon Kasumi's formerly alabaster-hued shoulder.

Once breakfast was at a point where it couldn't be Akane'd into ruin, Kasumi decided to return to the warm embraces of her lover and sister, only to find them wearing robes and looking on at her in amusement, while Ranma held one out to her. Kasumi blushed so intensely upon realizing that she'd run off in her nightgown, that the hicky on her shoulder was momentarily lost in the redness. After a few minutes of soft giggles they decided to climb into the furo for a quick wash-down while waiting for the rest of the household to awaken.

* * *

><p>It was a few moments after breakfast had been served and eaten when Ranma broke the silence.<p>

"I think that we need to discuss last night."

And just like that, the peaceful morning was shattered.

Akane jumped up and demanded to know just where the thought he got off ignoring his own parents the way he did, seconded by Genma. Nodoka was looking troubled and on the verge of tears, while Soun and Rilone simply sat and watched the chaos. Ranma let it carry on for a few minutes longer before sighing and deciding to bring some order to this chaos.

"ENOUGH!" he roared. The occupants looked at him in shock. "Enough, already! Let me tell you what exactly gives me the right to treat Genma the way I do, Miss Akane. The fact that I watched him use me as a bartering chip gives me that right. He did it while I was with him, and he did it during the years I was with Glalihern. What if your father had done that? Think about it for a while, and try to imagine how you'd feel if he traded you for food, sake, money, whatever he wanted at that time, as if you were a thing and not a person." He took a breath to steady himself. "As far as you, Miss Nodoka, are concerned, I'm neither mentally nor emotionally prepared to acknowledge you as a mother-figure right now. For the entirety of the time I was with Genma, he said you were dead. I never tried to scry for you because I didn't know who you were, and as far as I could tell, you were in the great beyond. So, please forgive me for not leaping into the arms or a woman I neither know, nor have any real connection to. That doesn't mean that I don't want to get to know you, just that I'm not really ready to call you Mom just yet, see?" Nodoka nodded and seemed to firm up her resolve a little.

Genma drew himself up and got ready to launch into a trade against Ranma when Soun spoke. "I can certainly understand where you're coming from, Ranma. I agree that it's a little presumptuous of us to imagine that you'd just toss your life and all your accomplishments to the side just like that and agree to be the dutiful son again. For my part, I must apologize. The excitement of you being here overwhelmed me and I acted without regard for your feelings." Soun bowed to Ranma in apology.

Ranma bowed in return and spoke again. "I accept your apology, Mr. Tendo, and I appreciate your candor. Were it myself you your position, I likely would have reacted in the same manner. Now, dear cousin Rilone," at her name, the woman perked up a little. "I see that you've gotten quite close to Mr. Tendo there." He spoke with a lightly teasing tone. Rilone blushed, and ducked her head a little. "Now, you and I are going to need to talk about several things soon, but I need to ask you a few things first, alright?" Rilone nodded again leveled a serious gaze at Ranma.

"Of course, General. What would you like to know?" Ranma winced slightly at the title.

"First off, are you going to return to the Realms with us, or would you like to stay here and recover more? Glalihern would be more than happy to have you at the castle, you know."

Rilone adopted a thoughtful look, and glanced at Soun several times while thinking. "I'd like to stay here, by your leave. Head injuries are no laughing matter, and the peaceful atmosphere will do me a world of good, I should think."

Ranma smiled and nodded. He'd suspected as much when he caught her glancing at Soun when she didn't think anyone was looking.

"Wait one minute here!" Akane screamed, "why is she asking YOUR permission to do ANYTHING? It's not like you're her father or owner, and unless I miss my guess, she's older than you are, so what gives you that right?"

Ranma's piercing glare stopped Akane short, as the promise of pain and suffering was clear as day there.

"Miss Akane, how did Rilone address me when she spoke a moment ago?" he asked.

"Umm… she said 'General', right?" Akane gave the reply.

Ranma nodded. "That's right. She was asking me for permission in three capacities: One, being her oldest, and closest, living relative, her actions with regard to family fall under my responsibility. Two being that, as she is a member of the martial order I founded, she defers to my authority there as well. Finally, as a General I am a landed noble and she swore an oath of fealty to me in that capacity. So, she was asking my permission as her liege lord on top of everything else. Does that answer your questions, or are you going to continue to second-guess me at every turn? Because if that's your intent; then there are procedures for when someone questions the honor and intentions of a person of station. I may not have asked for the rank and responsibility, but I sure as the abyss won't let someone insult it, understood?"

Nabiki and Kasumi were trying their best not to cheer Ranma on, Akane had needed to be taken down a few pegs for a while now, and Ranma was doing that quite neatly. They just hoped that it didn't get to the point where he felt the need to draw a weapon. Soun, Genma, and Nodoka sat by and watched, wondering how this little conflict would play out.

Akane almost drew herself up to lash out, but the look in Ranma's eyes made her take a moment to reflect on what he had said. He _was_ Rilone's only relative here and she had referred to him as a General, so maybe he had the right of it. She decided to just sniff dismissively and turn her nose up, rather than continue to push the issue. It certainly had nothing to do with the promise of swift and merciless retribution in Ranma's eyes, no sir!

"Now that that's been dealt with," Ranma began, "we need to address the topic of training for my two lovelies here. This particular power we'll be dealing with is no small threat, and I really don't want either of you getting hurt. I'd recommend going to a faster-timed plane for some training, but that's not without its own risk, either."

"What sort of risks are you referring to, Ranma?" Nabiki asked.

"Well, for starters," Rilone began, "there's the fact that even though many things are similar between the various planes, there's just as much that's different. Even fundamentally so on some of them. For instance, there's a plane called Pandemonium, where these giant metal blocks float around and are constantly smashing into each other. The natives there are these mecahical beings called drons, and they rank in power and form from monodrons, which look like mechanical spheres with arms, legs, and faces, up to something called a pentadron. I have no idea what one looks like, but they're supposed to be just below gods in terms of power. That's just one example, mind you, and there are planes that are even more bizarre. Not only that, but there are a literally infinite number of them, and the possibility of getting lost in and amongst them is a constant worry."

Rilone paused for a moment before continuing.

"If the planar co-ordinates aren't exact and specific, you could end up somewhere completely different than where you intended. As an example, if you were trying to get to the plane of Valhalla, but miscalculated even the tiniest amount, you could end up in Vanohollen, which is a lesser plane of torment. You see what I mean? It's a good plan, but one with more problems than I can even imagine!"

Ranma nodded while Nabiki looked thoughtful. Kasumi looked a bit confused, but felt that Rilone might have an idea of her own.

"Well, what would you suggest, Rilone-san?" she asked.

Rilone blinked a little, and adopted a thoughtful pose with her index finger against her chin. Soun thought it made her look incredibly cute, but he paid attention to what she was about to say in spite of his decade-long celibate state.

"Weeeeellll, you could use a slow-time spell on a area to give you time for training, or you could just train as you go in the realm, but that's almost as dangerous as skipping through the planes. I'd suggest some of the quick-time training halls you had built on your lands back in Cormyr. That way, they get acclimated to the realms, you can take care of your lands, and you're right near the center of the situation."

Ranma nodded. "That's a very good idea, Magistress. I'll contact father in a bit, unless you think you'll feel up to casting a Gate later?"

Rilone gently shook her head. "No, that level of concentration and focus wouldn't be good for me right now; I'd only make my injury worse. I'm pretty sure your father has a gate to get you from here to there, though."

"Yes," Ranma nodded, "there's one that goes directly to my private study at Silver Fortress, but I'm not sure if the steward left it alone."

"What sort of perversions were you planning on doing to my sisters there, you letch?" Akane snarled. This guy, showed up out of nowhere, turned her sisters to his side, and now he wants to whisk them off to goodness-knows-where? Not on her watch!

"You'll whisk them off to your fairy-tale kingdom over my dead body, you perv! It's bad enough you just pop in our lives and turn things upside down, add to it that you've corrupted my sisters, and now you want to kidnap them?" Akane's rant drew the notice of the bystanders, and everyone present began to feel a sense of dread creeping up their spines from the ever-darkening look Ranma was directing at her.

Finally having heard enough, Ranma slammed his hands on the table and snarled at Akane.

"SILENCE!"

He took a brief moment to try and compose his self before continuing.

"Your sisters, whom I love with every fiber of my being despite having known them only a short while, made themselves perfectly clear last night. They told me, with YOU sitting RIGHT THERE that they had no intentions of being left behind and would, in fact, make me suffer greatly for so much as entertaining the thought of such an action. Second; while magic is a very real part of life in the realms, and creatures of fantasy abound, it is NO Fairy-land! As I have told you before, there are races in the realms that will kill, rape, and eat you for no other reason than being human! And, if you're very, very lucky, some of them will do it in that order. I am taking your sisters somewhere to train them so that they can survive there. I can't be everywhere, Akane, and even with as powerful as I am, I have limits."

"That having been said, I think that Kasumi, Nabiki, and I need to go over a few things and make some purchases for the upcoming journey." Ranma turned to look at Nabiki, an adoring look clear in his eyes. "Nabiki, love, I'll leave the best place to find the things we talk about in your most capable hands." Nabiki blushed and beamed at the praise. Ranma turned his look of adoration to Kasumi next. "Kasumi, we'll need to stock up the house for while we're gone and there are provisions to be obtained as well. I'll be honest; the food you make is orders of magnitude better than anything the castle kitchens turn out. But then again, we're feeding soldiers, so… yeah. Anyway, I know you're the go-to girl for logistics, so I'll leave that up to you, my lovely." Kasumi beamed at him and gave a quick nod.

With a round of farewells, the trio left to do their shopping and enjoy a bit of together-time before going off to who-knows-where.

* * *

><p>Those remaining, however, had their attention centered firmly on the spoiled youngest Tendo.<p>

"You know, Miss Akane," Rilone began, "Ranma didn't get to be a general because of his charming personality. He fought for his troops, earned their respect, and cared for each and every one of them. Hell, he knew them by name and would take the time to chat with everyone when he had the time. Everyone, Miss Akane, not just the officers or the veteran Sergeants, everyone, from the greenest recruit on up to the most experienced captain. For you to insinuate that he's less than an honorable, dependable, and trustworthy leader is not only to insult him, his king, and his calling, but to also dishonor the memory of the more than four thousand men and women that rallied under his banner. I, for one, won't tolerate such talk, and I firmly believe that you owe my cousin an apology when he returns."

Rilone took a steadying breath and sipped her tea, grimacing at the cold liquid.

"He was right about one other thing, though." She continued. "The Realms are a place of myth and wonder, where mages pierce the veil between worlds and priests resurrect the dead, almost on a daily basis. However, they are NO fairy tale. The village I was born in was destroyed by an army of orcs; hulking, massively strong, green-skinned, humanoid brutes. They destroyed what they couldn't carry off; took the children for slaves, killed the men, and reaped all the women of child-bearing age. Then, they ate the dead. They did it because they could and we were there. This wasn't a tragedy, or even an isolated event, and it was neither the first time such a thing happened, nor the last. This is the kind of world Lord Ranma was raised in, and that is where he is going. He's right to think to train your sisters to defend themselves, and their desire to accompany him puts him in a horrible position. "

"What kind of position, Rilone-chan?" Soun asked.

Rillone blushed at the affectionate suffix and smiled shyly.

"He has to take the two women he loves more than life it's self into danger, induct them into his order, and potentially command them into a suicidal position. He dreads that happening, but also acknowledges that it might happen. And that tears at his heart." She smirked a little and continued. "He hides it well, doesn't he?"

Akane scowled a little, and practically snarled at the beautiful woman in front of her.

"What's with this love talk? They've known each other for less than a week, for crying out loud! NOBODY could fall in love that fast!"

Rilone smiled and shook her head.

"See, that's where you're wrong. For all that he's human, he's also a dragon, and part of the nature of half-dragons like us is that once we find our soul-mate, it's instantaneous. Just we look in each other's eyes, and BAM! Pure, unadultered, true, and honest love. We can no more deny it than you can change your ancestors. Not only that, but THEY know the same way. They might not know it for what it is, and they might not even be able to give a name to what they feel, but they feel it and they can't deny it. That's why your sisters said what they did, why they are so willing to follow Ranma into danger, and why Soun-koi was so willing to… I'm gonna stop talking now…" she finished with a sheepish smile and a deep blush, suddenly finding the tea cup VERY interesting.

Soun smiled and moved to sit next to Rilone. He reached over to the deeply emberrased woman and pulled her into a tender embrace.

"I love you to, Rilone-koi. Just please be patient with me while I pick up the shattered pieces of my former life, okay?" and before Rillone could do more than turn to look at him, Soun swept her up into passionate and loving kiss.


End file.
